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WORKS  OF 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL  WOODHULL 


PUBLISHED    BY 


JOHN   WILEY  &  SONS 


Military  Hygiene  for  Officers  of  the  Line. 

Fourth  Edition,  Rewritten  and  Greatly  Enlarged. 
Large  i2mo,  vi  +  384  pages.     Cloth,  $1.5°  net. 


Personal  Hygiene. 

Designed   for   Undergraduates.        i2mo,   vii  +  221 
pages.    Cloth,  $1.00  net. 


Personal  Hygiene 

Designed  for  Undergraduates 


ALFRED  A.  WOODHULL,  A.M.,  M.D.,  LL.D.  (Princ.) 

Brigadier  General  U.  S.  Army,  Retired 
Lately  Colonel,  Medical  Department,  U.  S.  Army 


FIRST  EDITION 

SECOND   THOUSAND. 


NEW  YORK 

JOHN   WILEY  &   SONS 

London:    CHAPMAN  &   HALL,   Limited 


Transferrer? 


Copyright,  1906 

BY 

ALFRED  A.  WOODHULL 


PRESS  OP 

BRAUNWORTH  &  CO. 

BOOK  MANUFACTURERS 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


•ro 
Ubc  Princeton  Class  ot  1906 

AND  Its  Immediate  Successors, 

In  Cordial  Recognition  of  Theie  Appreciative 

Reception  of  the  Spoken  Words. 


Preface 

"^  I  "'HIS  book  is  intended  for  undergraduate  students 
and  contains  the  substance  of  lectures  on  Per- 
sonal Hygiene  given  at  Princeton  during  the  last  few 
years.  It  is  published  because  the  oral  delivery  of  its 
material  has  been  accepted  so  pleasantly  as  to  suggest 
that  it  may  be  useful  elsewhere  in  this  form.  Ab- 
stract physiology  has  been  kept  at  the  lowest  point, 
and  as  far  as  possible  technical  phrases  have  been 
avoided.  The  constant  aim  has  been  to  present 
actual  conditions  in  the  simplest  language.  One 
lecture,  on  the  Avoidable  Diseases,  is  not  printed.  A 
little  First  Aid  was  mingled  with  the  Hygiene  in  the 
lecture-room,  but  that  is  omitted  here  because  it  is 
an  independent  subject  on  which  admirable  books  are 
readily  accessible. 

As  the  subject  is  public  property  and  the  lectures 
were  prepared  without  thought  of  publication,  no 
record  of  the  authorities  drawn  upon  was  kept;  so  that 
in  some  instances  their  very  words  may  have  been 
appropriated.     As  far  as  possible  credit  is  now  given, 


Vi  Preface 

but  doubtless  coincidences  of  expression  may  be 
found.  A  part  of  the  discussion  of  alcohol,  a  general 
position  held  for  years,  is  a  paraphrase  of  the  admi- 
rable Report  of  the  Committee  of  Fifty  on  the  Liquor 
Problem. 

Pbinqeton,  December,  1905. 


Contents 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.      The   SKELETON' I 

II.     The  Muscular  System i_^ 

III.  The  Lungs  and  Respiration 17 

IV,  The  Heart  and  the  Circulation 25 


V.    The  Nervous  System. 


37 


52 


VI.     The  Contents  of  the  Abdomen 

VII.     Digestion,  and  the  Care  op  the  Digestive  Appa- 
ratus. . 57 

VIII.     The  Development  and  Care  of  the  Body 74 

IX.     Physical-Culture  Exercises 94 

X.     Fatigue 103 

XI.     The  Elimination  of  Waste  and  the  Care  of  the 

Skin m 

XII.     Catching  Cold,  Swimming,  Bathing 124 

XIII.  Clothing 134 

XIV.  Food 144 

XV.     Tobacco 163 

XVI.    Alcohol » 183 

vii 


Personal   Hygiene 


I 

The  Skeleton 

'nPHE  study  of  Personal  Hygiene  has  an  immediate, 
direct  and  personal  application,  and  this  presen- 
tation of  it  contains  very  little  that  is  speculative  or 
that  bears  upon  any  future  profession  of  the  student. 
It  offers  certain  ascertained  conditions  of  the  physical 
organism  and  of  exercise,  food,  clothing,  habits,  and 
similar  matters  of  daily  individual  concern.  That  the 
principles  upon  which  Personal  Hygiene  depends  may 
be  appreciated,  some  elementary  points  of  anatomy 
and  physiology  must  be  presented,  but  these  will  be 
only  those  absolutely  necessary  to  its  reasonable  un- 
derstanding. "It  is  no  part  of  a  university  education 
to  be  showered  with  disconnected  facts."  There  are 
certain  ultimate  conditions  which  cannot  be,  or  have 
not  been,  cxj)lained,  such  as  the  saltness  of  salt,  or 
the  power  of  gravitation;   but  such  conditions  obtrude 


2  Personal  Hygiene 

very  little  in  this  subject,  and  one  should  not  be  satis- 
fied until  the  reason  for,  as  well  as  the  method  of,  any 
process,  mechanical  or  physiological,  is  understood. 

Anatomy  is  the  science  of  organized  bodies;  and 
human  anatomy  explains  the  structure  of  man,  as 
human  physiology  explains  the  operation  of  his  vital 
functions.  The  human  organism  is  roughly  separable 
Extremis  into  the  cavities  of  the  head  and  the  trunk 
*'®^  containing  the  organs  of  life,  and  the  extremi- 

ties or  limbs,  solid  appendages  which  are  the  organs 
of  touch,  prehension,  and  transportation.  The  latter, 
which  are  not  essential  to  life,  exist  for  the  care  and 
convenience  of  the  former.  The  man  is  contained 
within  the  cavities,  and  the  removal  of  all  the  limbs 
should  leave  the  vital  functions  unimpaired. 

The  skeleton,  a  bony  frame  clothed  with  flesh  and 

supporting  other  soft  structures,  protects  the  vital  organs 

from  violence  and  serves  as  a  base  for  the 
Bones  ^         .  .  .  ,  -r    • 

functions  of  graspmg  and  movement,     it  is 

made  up  of  about  two  hundred  bones,  varied  in  shape 
so  as  to  be  adapted  to  their  respective  uses,  which  are 
compact  on  the  surface  and  cancellated  within  and  thus 
combine  lightness  and  strength  to  the  best  advantage. 
The  shaft  of  a  long  bone  is  approximately  a  hollow 
cylinder,  which  secures  a  maximum  of  strength  with  a 
minimum  of  material;  and  its  extremities,  which  en- 
dure pressure  or  play  upon  other  parts,  have  their 
cancellated  plates  geometrically  arranged  to  sustain 
strain  without  being  unduly  heavy.  All  the  short 
bones  are  cancellated  within  and  are  relatively  light. 


The  Skeleton  3 

The  vitality  of  all  bones  is  chiefly  maintained 
through  the  periosteum,  a  closely-adherent,  very  tough 
membrane  rich  in  blood-vessels.  When  a  Perios- 
part  of  the  periosteum  is  removed  or  dies  *®"™ 
as  the  result  of  either  violence  or  disease,  the  bone  next 
to  it  dies  also.  The  leg-guards  that  protect  the  ex- 
posed shins  in  kicking  games,  besides  defending 
against  fracture  guard  the  periosteum  from  bruises 
that  may  be  more  serious  than  the  mere  pain  they 
cause.  On  the  other  hand,  the  periosteum  throws  out 
the  new  material  that  reunites  broken  bones,  as 
shown  in  the  knot  of  extra  callus  remaining  from 
excess  of  the  fresh  bone  after  a  fracture.  Besides  the 
periosteal  action,  bones,  particularly  the  long  ones, 
arise  from  several  centres;  and  the  various 
parts  are  not  always  sufficiently  united  be- 
fore adult  life  to  prevent  them  from  being  pulled 
apart  occasionally  under  violent  exertion.  In  early 
life  bones  are  actually  softer,  and  the  long  bones  then 
are  liable  to  bend  under  the  weight  of  the  body;  and 
as  old  age  approaches  they  become  more  rigid  and 
brittle. 

The  spinal  column  is  not  a  solid  cylindrical  body,  as 
the  name  might  imply,  but  consists  of  twenty-four 
separate  bones  called  vertebrae,  lashed  to- 
gether  by  tough  ligaments.  Each  vertebra 
is  capable  of  slight  rotation,  the  sum  being  considerable, 
allowing  flcxibihty  in  all  directions.  This  flexibihty 
is  not  only  useful  in  common  life,  but  makes  easy  the 
deformities  due  to  the  carelessness  of  youth  as  seen 


^  Personal  Hygiene 

in  bent  and  twisted  spines.  It  also,  fortunately, 
allows  their  rectification  when  taken  in  time.  Each 
vertebra  is  pierced  for  that  great  extension  of  the  central 
nervous  system  known  as  the  spinal  cord.  Between 
every  two  vertebrae  an  elastic  cartilage  takes  up  shock 
in  walking  or  leaping,  and  by  the  close  of  the  day 
each  is  sufficiently  compressed  for  the  sum  to  make 
a  measurable  difference  in  the  height  of  the  person. 
It  is  the  gradual  wasting  of  this  elastic  tissue,  not  of 
the  bone,  in  addition  to  the  stoop  of  careless  or  feeble 
old  men,  that  leads  to  the  diminished  stature  com- 
mon to  advanced  years. 

The   first  two    are    the    only    vertebrae    requiring 
special  notice.     The  first  is   substantially  a  shallow 

ring  which  supports  the  skull,  and  hence 
Atlas  .    °  .      \^,       .    .. 

its  name,  atlas.     The  skull  rests  upon  two 

broad  facets,  which  allows  the  nodding  motion.     The 

second  vertebra  has  an  upright  part,  or  process,  which 

extends  directly  against    the    inner  side  of  the  front 

.   .  of  the  atlas  at    right  angles  to  the    rim 

A.xis 

This  is  restrained  from  slipping  backward 

by  a  tough  ligament,  and  as  the  atlas  plays  around 
this  projection  it  becomes  literally  an  axis,  as  it  is 
called.  By  this  play  we  move  the  head  over  a  con- 
siderable arc  of  a  circle,  much  farther  than  we  can 
turn  the  body.  In  a  legal  execution  by  hanging, 
the  intention  always  is  to  break  this  projection,  with 
the  consequence  that  the  spinal  cord  is  also  torn  or 
crushed. 
The  cranium  or  skull  rests  on  the  spinal  column. 


The  Skeleton  5 

The  skull  and  the  bones  of  the  face  make  up  the  head. 
The  brain,  enclosed  by  the  skull,  is  directly  continuous 
with  the  spinal  cord. 

Twelve   enclosing   ribs   spring   from   the   spine   on 
each  side  and  unite  directly  or  indirectly,  except  the 

lowest  two,  with  the  breast-bone.     The  ribs, 

Chest 
the  spinal  column,  and  the  breast-bone  com- 
bine to  make  the  flexible  cage  known  as  the  chest, 
which  contains  the  heart  and  lungs. 

The  bones  of  the  chest  are  reinforced  above  by  the 
collar-bones  (clavicles)  and  behind  by  the  shoulder- 
blades  (scapulae).  The  curved  and  slender  collar- 
bone assists  in  keeping  the  shoulders  the  CoIIar= 
proper  distance  apart.  It  is  easily  broken  *'**"® 
by  direct  violence  and  usually  heals  promptly  but  with 
some  deformity,  for  the  edges  invariably  overlap 
from  the  drawing  together  of  the  shoulders  and  there 
is  usually  new  bone,  callus,  thrown  out  in  excess 
from  the  torn  periosteum.  As  the  collar-bone  is  out- 
side of  the  chest-walls,  this  common  accident  has  no 
direct  effect  upon  the  chest  as  a  vital  receptacle. 

The  shoulder-blade  is  an  irregular  flat  bone  lying 
across  the  back  outside  of  the  chest,  with  two  tips 
that  overhang  the  shoulder- joint.  The  shoulder- 
body  of  the  shoulder-blade  is  never  broken  •''^^^ 
except  by  a  crushing  force  which  ordinarily  would 
destroy  life.  Either  of  the  tips  is  liable  to  fracture  by 
direct  or  by  indirect  violence. 

The  upper  limb,  or  extremity,  contains  one  bone  in 
the  arm,  two  in  the  forearm,  and  numerous  small  ones 


6  Personal  Hygiene 

in  the  wrist  and  hand.    Popularly  the  arm  extends  from 

the  wrist  to  the  shoulder,  but  proper  exact- 
Arm 

ness  limits  the  arm  to  the  part  above  the 

elbow,  and  the  forearm  to  that  between  the  elbow  and 

the  wrist.     The  arm-bone  (humerus)  is  semi- spherical 

at  its  upper  end,  and    the  socket,  against  which  it 

may  revolve  throughout  an  entire  circle,  is  so  shallow 

that  dislocations — out-of-places — are  frequent.     These 

usually  occur  downward  and  inward  into  the  armpit, 

an    accident    that    treated    at    once    may  usually  be 

promptly  relieved.     Such   relief,  however,   is  beyond 

the  sphere  of  hygiene. 

There  are  two  bones  in  the  forearm :  the  radius  on  the 

thumb  side,  the  ulna  on  the  little-finger  side.    The 

^  ulna  hooks  into  the  lower  part  of  the  arm- 

Forearm  ^ 

bone  and  has  only  the  up-and-down  motion. 
But  the  radius  rolls  upon  the  ulna  near  the  elbow  and 
carries  in  its  rotation  the  hand,  which  is  attached  to  its 
lower  end.  The  practical  interest  lies  in  the  fact  that 
when  the  radius  is  so  damaged  that  it  cannot  revolve, 
or  when  after  breaking  it  grows  to  the  ulna,  the  rotation 
of  the  hand  is  interfered  with.  If  the  radius  fails  to 
revolve,  the  hand  can  no  more  be  turned,  except  as 
the  humerus  itself  turns,  than  the  mouth  may  be 
closed  by  bringing  down  the  upper  jaw.  Should  the 
forearm  be  broken,  it  is  important  to  avoid  deranging 
the  proper  relation  of  the  fragments;  and  to  that  end 
it  should  be  carried  horizontally  with  the  thumb  up 
and  pains  be  taken  not  to  disturb  the  padding  arranged 
to  keep  the  bones  apart  after  they  are  dressed. 


The  Skeleton  7 

The  various  troubles  attributed  to  the  elbow  in  base- 
ball and  tennis  practice  usually  depend  upon  excessive 
use  of  the  muscles  which  move  the  radius,  and  not  to 
real  trouble  in  the  joint  itself.  The  part  of  the  ulna 
that  hooks  into  the  humerus,  or  the  projections  at  the 
sides,  may  be  chipped  off  by  a  fall  or  a  blow;  but  the 
ordinary  tennis  elbow,  for  instance,  is  a  strain  of  the 
soft  parts  about  the  joint.  It  is  a  common  fault  in 
tennis  to  depend  too  much  upon  the  forearm  and 
wrist,  and  to  neglect  the  shoulder  from  which  the 
arm  may  swing  freely  in  every  direction. 

The  hand  and  wrist  require  no  comment  beyond 
attention  to  the  thumb,  in  which  lies  the  special  phys- 
ical distinction  between  man  and  the  higher  apes 
that  bear  a  general  resemblance  to  him.  The  thumb 
is  the  potential  factor  of  civilization,  for  it 
enables  man  to  perform  those  mechanical 
arts  upon  which  civilization  depends.  It  qualifies  its 
possessor  for  spinning,  for  drawing  the  bow,  and  for  all 
.those  acts  of  grasping  which  require  opposition  within 
the  hand  itself  (Whitehead).  Closely  as  they  resemble 
man  in  other  ways,  the  higher  types  of  monkeys  and 
apes  have  no  capable  thumb. 

At  the  lower  end  of  the  spinal  column  are  the  sacrum 

and  the  coccyx,  made  up  respectively  of  five  and  four 

rudimentary    vertebrae    consolidated.     The 

Pelvis 
coccyx  is  really  a  rudimentary  tail,  curved 

forward.  Together  they  form  a  wedge  tilting  to  the 
front,  which  is  the  back  of  the  bony  basin.  The  remain- 
der of  the  pelvis  consists  of  two  large  irregular  bones, 


8  Personal  Hygiene 

one  on  each  side,  originally  consisting  of  three  apiece. 
These  are  the  innominate  or  haunch  bones,  sometimes 
called  the  hip-bones,  and  we  sit  on  their  lower  parts. 
These  bones  arise  from  several  centres  and  slowly 
weld  together,  solidification  being  deferred  until  the 
twelfth,  and  sometimes  until  the  twenty-fifth,  year. 
This  has  no  immediate  bearing  upon  the  health  of 
either  sex,  but  deferred  ossification,  which  permits 
changes  of  form  under  privation  and  stress,  is  liable 
seriously  to  interfere  with  the  most  important  physio- 
logical function  of  the  mature  female  and  to  render 
the  male  inefficient  for  such  heavy  work  as  requires 
vigorous  use  of  the  lower  back  and  the  lower  limbs. 
The  submerged  classes  with  chronically  impaired 
health  are  those  most  liable  to  this  deformity,  but  it 
may  occur  in  any  station  where  the  bones  do  not 
coalesce  normally  and  are  affected  by  disease  with 
or  without  strain.  The  female  pelvis  should  be,  as 
it  is,  flatter  and  broader  than  that  of  the  male.  The 
conception  of  a  broad  pelvis  is  essentially  associated 
with  female  beauty,  just  as  a  truly  vigorous  man  is 
deep-chested,  broad-shouldered,  straight-legged.  The 
willowy  young  women  with  tenuous  hips,  celebrated 
by  ignorant  writers  and  figured  by  untaught  illustrators, 
are  malformed;  and  taste  should  be  cultivated  along 
the  lines  of  nature  and  not  be  vitiated  by  an  approval  of 
disproportion. 

The  pelvis  supports  the  spinal  column  and  is  itself 
supported  by  the  thigh,  the  leg,  and  the  foot,  which 
together  make  up  the  lower  extremity.    The  thigh- 


The  Skeleton  g 

bone  (femur)  is  single  like  the  arm-bone  (humerus) 
and  moves  at  the  hip  by  a  ball-and-socket         _ 
joint,  as  the  arm  at  the  shoulder. 

The  leg-bones,  like  those  of  the  forearm,  are  two,  the 
tibia  and  the  fibula,  and  meet  the  thigh-bone  in  a  hinge- 
joint  at  the  knee.  The  tibia  (shin-bone) 
is  relatively  large,  and  the  fibula  is  very 
slender.  Occasionally  the  tibia  is  broken  by  gunshot, 
or  otherwise,  while  the  fibula  remains  intact  until  the 
subject  bears  his  weight  upon  it.  It  is  important, 
therefore,  after  such  an  accident  not  to  attempt  to 
walk  until  expert  opinion  is  had  as  to  the  extent  of 
the  injury;  otherwise  there  will  be  serious  risk  of 
sacrificing  the  natural  splint  that  nature  supplies  to 
assist  in  maintaining  the  normal  length  and  direction 
of  the  broken  limb.  The  fibula  is  the  outer  and  the 
tibia  the  inner  of  these  two  bones,  and  their  lower 
extremities   are   popularly  known  as   the  outer  and 

inner  ankle- bones.     The  ankle  strictly  is  ... 

.  Ankle 

the  joint,  and  the  only  true  ankle-bone  is  a 

curved  small  bone,  the  astragalus,  upon  which  the 
leg-bones  play.  This  is  never  broken  except  by  a 
crushing  force.  The  common  expression  "a  small 
bone  of  the  ankle  "  has  no  foundation  in  fact,  and 
fractures  of  the  ankle  are  breaks  of  the  slightly  enlarged 
lower  tips  of  the  leg-bones.  The  foot  resembles  the 
hand ;  except  that  the  instep,  partly  corresponding  to 
the  wrist,  supports  the  weight  of  the  body  and  there- 
fore its  strength  and  elasticity  arc  important,  and  the 
toes  lack  the  prehensile  power  of  the  fingers. 


to  Personal  Hygiene 


The  great  toe  corresponds,  in  a  degree,  in  importance 

and  anatomically  to  the  thumb,  but  it  may  not  be 

^      ^  ^        opposed,  as  the  thumb,  to  the  rest  of  the 
Great  toe     ^^         ' 

foot.  But  the  act  of  progression  largely 
depends  upon  the  pressure  of  the  ball  of  the  foot  and 
of  this  toe  against  the  ground  as  the  body  is  thrown 
forward. 

Pressure  at  the  base  of  the  great  toe  from  a  tight 
shoe  or  from  one  too  short  may  positively  displace 
the  member  and  almost  certainly  causes  at  the  joint  a 
tender  swelling,  a  bunion.  This  is  very  obstinate,  and 
is  a  grave  impediment  in  prolonged  walking.  The  short 
shoe,  which  does  not  allow  free  expansion  of  the  foot 
forward,  is  probably  as  hurtful  as  the  tight  shoe,  which 
bears  the  popular  blame.  In  some  unshod  or  loosely 
shod  races  the  great  toe  remains  disjunctive  and 
almost  prehensile.  Certainly  were  our  feet  less 
cramped  by  special  clothing,  their  shape  and  comfort 
would  be  much  enhanced. 

The  arch  of  the  foot,  the  instep,  assists  the  act  of 
walking  by  its  form  and  elasticity,  qualities  that  grow 
Ingrowing  with  its  freedom.  An  ingrowing  nail,  usually 
toe-nail  q£  ^-^^  great  toe,  is  very  painful  and  dis- 
qualifies for  serious  work.  In  the  intervals  of  pro- 
fessional treatment  the  nail  should  always  be  cut 
straight  across  and  not  round  at  the  corners,  which  is 
the  constant  temptation.  The  lesser  toe-nails  should 
always  be  carefully  trimmed,  to  avoid  wounding  the 
neighboring  toes.  One's  feet  should  be  bathed  at  the 
close  of  the  day  as  regularly  as  his  teeth  should  be 


The  Skeleton  1 1 

brushed.  The  dust  and  perspiration  that  cling  about 
the  toes  are  apt  to  be  more  offensive  than  those  in  other 
parts  of  the  person.  The  foetid  perspiration  that 
afflicts  the  feet  of  an  occasional  victim  is  a  disease 
deserving  of  commiseration  and  treatment,  not  of 
censure  or  obloquy. 

The  skeleton  exhibits  prominences,  ridges,  grooves, 
where  the  contractile  agents  that  govern  motion,  the 
muscles,  are  attached.  In  prehistoric  bones  these  are 
sometimes  excessive,  indicating  a  much  greater  develop- 
ment of  the  active  muscles. 

As  a  resume  remember  that  in  early  life  bones  may 
bend  and  in  old  age  they  are  brittle,  and  that  some  are 
not  consolidated  before  the  age  of  twenty-two  or  later. 
It  is  thus  possible  for  the  epiphyses  in  the  young 
to  separate  under  severe  strain.  The  moral  is  that 
political  maturity  and  physical  maturity  are  not 
attained  simultaneously.  The  statute  but  physical 
not  the  physical  law  bestows  majority  at  maturity 
the  age  of  twenty-one;  but  nature's  work  is  not  com- 
plete when  the  ballot  is  conferred. 

A  practical  example  is  found  where  immature  men 
are  allowed  to  attempt  severe  continuous  labor,  as 
when  recruits  at  the  age  of  eighteen  or  a  little  more 
are  accepted,  as  legally  permitted,  for  active  military 
service.  It  is  equally  true  that  in  academic  life  the 
immature  cannot  bear  continued  strain,  whether  of 
mind  or  body,  with  impunity.  An  exploit  of  memory 
in  class  or  a  dash  upon  the  track  is  no  evidence  of 
capability    of    endurance    before    time   gives    lasting 


12  Personal  Hygiene 

power.  It  is  not  a  disgrace  to  be  immature,  but  it  is 
a  sign  of  mental  weakness  not  to  recognize  the  signi- 
ficance of  immaturity. 

The  bones  are  bound  together,  with  varying  degrees 
of  play  between  them,  by  strong  inelastic  fibrous 
Strain  and  bands,  the  ligaments,  A  strain  is  the 
sprain  stretching  of  one  of  these  from  stress;  a 
sprain  is  a  severe  strain,  sometimes  a  tearing.  The 
difference  is  more  of  degree  than  of  kind.  A  badly 
stretched  ligament  may  be  permanently  weakened,  and 
a  sprain  from  its  liability  to  recur  should  be  respected 
for  a  long  time.  The  best  immediate  treatment  for  a 
sprain  is  prolonged  immersion  in  hot  water,  or  hot 
applications,  followed  by  careful  rubbing  toward  the 
body.  When  ligaments  are  torn,  as  by  direct  force, 
complete,  not  imperfect,  rest  should  be  steadily  main- 
tained. A  joint  once  weakened  may  be  a  life-long 
infirmity,  and  a  severe  sprain  may  be  much  worse  in 
its  consequences  than  a  break. 

To  distinguish  between  a  dislocation  and  a  fracture, 
whose  names  explain  themselves,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that,  in  general  terms,  a  bone  which  has  motion 
where  it  should  not  is  broken.  When  a  limb  does  not 
move  where  it  should,  it  is  out  of  place. 


II 

The  Muscular  System 

"D  OUGHLY,  one-half  of  the  weight  of  an  adult  is 

flesh.      In  a  child  it  is  somewhat  less.      This 

is  found  in  independent  sections  of  varying  shapes 

called   muscles.     These,    through   their   contractility, 

carry  on  the  more  conspicuous  mechanical 

•  r  1-r         All  ■  1  1  Muscles 

operations  of  life.  All  appreciable  move- 
ment occurs  by  their  action,  which  is  always  accom- 
panied by  change  of  form.  No  change  of  posture,  even 
no  play  of  feature,  happens  without  muscular  action 
and  consequent  changes  of  outline.  That  a  muscle 
grows  with  its  exercise  is  as  applicable  to  those  which 
mark  expression  as  to  those  that  carry  on  labor.  The 
face  as  well  as  the  back  is  covered  with  muscles,  and 
the  dominant  disposition  is  shown  in  their  development 
as  clearly  as  the  work  of  the  blacksmith  or  of  the  porter 
is  displayed  by  the  arm  or  the  loins.  Nearly  all  the 
muscles  have  a  fixed  attachment  to  bone,  which 
limits  their  movement;  but  there  are  a  few  known  as 
the  sphincters,  mere  fleshy  rings  to  which  other 
muscles  are  attached.  The  muscle  surrounding  the 
mouth  is  the  most  obvious  example,  both  of  their 

»3 


14  Personal  Hygiene 

essential  nature  and  of  the  influence  brought  to  bear 
on  them.  On  the  table  muscle  is  known  as  meat. 
Fibrous  tissues  or  sinews  (gristle),  attached 
in  sheets  or  strings,  make  muscles  fast  to 
other  structures,  usually  bone.  These  tendons  are 
inelastic  and  grow  disproportionately  with  age,  which 
is  the  main  reason  why  an  elderly  person  whose  strength 
is  not  seriously  impaired  may  not  rival  a  younger  one 
in  agility.  Nevertheless  continual  practice,  far  short 
of  severe  exertion,  will  maintain  high  efficiency  to 
an  advanced  period.  It  is  not  an  object  to  burden 
oneself  with  masses  of  muscle,  any  more  than  with  fat, 
as  evidence  of  health.  The  design  should  be  to  preserve 
the  active  efficiency  of  all  the  bodily  functions,  including 
those  of  the  muscular  system. 

There  are  about  four  hundred  muscles,  diverse  in 
shape  and  size,  concerning  which  it  is  sufficient  simply 
to  understand  their  more  conspicuous  work  and  to 
recognize  their  general  character.  A  general  classi- 
fication, having  a  microscopical  but  also  a  functional 
distinction,  is  the  division  into  plain  and  unstriped 
muscle.  All  muscle  is  irritable  and  contracts  under 
stimulation.  This  contraction  involves  a  change  of 
form,  not  of  volume.  Practically  the  stimulus  to  which 
muscle  responds  is  exercised  through  the  nervous  system. 
Speaking  generally,  the  striped  are  the  voluntary 
muscles;  that  is,  those  whose  operation  is  con- 
Striped  trolled  by  the  exercise  of  the  will  or 
muscle  ordinarily  are  moved  by  the  voluntary 
nerves.    For  instance,  the  muscles  of  the  arm,  the  leg, 


The  Muscular  System  15 

or  the  face  remain  quiescent  although  themselves 
intact,  when  the  nerves  going  to  them  are  disabled. 
The  energy  passes  through  the  nerves;  the  muscles 
do  the  work.  When  the  nerve  is  severed  by  a  knife, 
or  disabled  by  disease,  the  muscle  cannot  contract. 
Plain,  or  unstriped,  muscle  is  not  under  the  influence 
of  the  will,  but  is  controlled  by  the  organic  (or  sym- 
pathetic) nervous  system,  of  which  later.  Unstriped 
Unstriped  muscle  contracts  and  relaxes  more  "i"scle 
slowly  and  more  persistently  than  the  striped  muscle; 
but  it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  its  operation  is 
also  controlled  by  the  nervous  system,  although  not 
by  that  part  ^vf  the  nervous  system  which  acts  through 
the  will.  Hence  the  regulation  of  the  whole  nervous 
system  is  of  prime  importance.  For  instance,  unstriped 
muscular  fibres  encircle  the  blood-vessels,  and  when 
by  their  contraction  the  diameter  of  those  vessels  is 
lessened  the  quantity  of  blood  flowing  through  them 
is  diminished.  Now  one  of  the  effects  of  nicotine  upon 
the  nervous  system  is  for  the  latter  to  cause  the  muscle 
to  contract,  which  in  turn  diminishes  the  bore  of  the 
minute  blood-vessels  and  reduces  the  blood-supply. 
This  is  one  of  the  ways  by  which  those  who  use  tobacco 
prematurely  or  in  excess  dwarf  their  bodies  and  reduce 
the  normal  supply  of  nutriment  to  the  brain.  Un- 
striped muscles  make  up  a  part  of  the  blood-vessels,  the 
most  of  the  hollow  viscera,  and  the  walls  of  the  intes- 
tines. They  carry  on  the  automatic  changes  in  the 
capacity  of  the  lungs,  and  they  form  the  bulk  of  the 
heart.    Hence  if  the  general  nervous  system  is  dis- 


1 6  Personal  Hygiene 

turbed,  these  concealed  but  important  organs  may  be 
correspondingly  affected.  We  influence  the  unstriped 
muscle  not  by  the  will  but  by  our  care  or  want  of  care 
of  the  organic  nerve. 

Muscular  work  in  its  ultimate  analysis  represents 
the  transformation  of  energy,  through  the  transmuta- 
tion of  food  into  muscle  and  other  constituents  of  the 
body.  The  manifestation  of  muscular  work  is  in  great 
part  governed  by  that  form  of  nervous  energy  which 
we  speak  of  as  "spirit,"  or  "grit,"  and  two  vital 
machines  cannot  be  compared  until  this  factor  is 
estimable. 


Ill 

The  Lungs  and  Respiration 

TMMEDIATELY  behind  the  palate,  from  the  com- 
mon  vault  in  which  the  cavities  of  the  mouth  and 
nose  unite,  two  distinct  channels  descend.  The  wind- 
pipe (trachea)  in  front  goes  to  the  lungs,  Windpipe 
the  gullet  (oesophagus)  behind  it  to  the  and  gullet 
stomach.  That  all  one's  food  and  drink  doesn't  pour 
into  the  lungs  depends  upon  the  automatic  closure 
of  the  larynx,  at  the  top  of  the  trachea,  during  the  act 
of  swallowing.  Whatever  else  may  happen  in  a  case 
of  drowning,  for  example,  water  does  not  ordinarily 
enter  the  lungs  before  actual  death,  even  if  it  does  then. 
That  is  to  say,  a  person  does  not  drown  by  the  lungs 
primarily  filling  with  water.  The  chest  (thorax)  is 
separated  from  the  belly  (abdomen)  by  the  diaphragm 
(midriff),  a  broad,  thin,  curved  muscle,  and  it  contains 
the  heart  and  lungs. 

The  respiratory  organs  are  one  windpipe  and  two 
lungs.     The  windpipe  divides  at  the  depth  of  Organs  of 
4^  inches  into  two  smaller  tubes  (bronchi),  respiration 
one  for  each  lung.     These  subdivide  rapidly  into  very 

17 


1 8  Personal  Hyg 


lene 


many  smaller  tubes  which  end  in  minute  pouches, 
whose  walls  are  hollowed  into  still  more  minute  ves- 
Vesicles,  ides  (alveoli)  whose  presumed  number  is 
or  alveoli  y^o,ooo,ooo,  each  having  an  average  diam- 
eter of  jj^  inch.  The  walls  of  these  subdivided  tubes 
are  of  almost  inconceivable  delicacy,  and  their  essential 
object  is  to  support,  as  would  a  frame,  an  innumerable 

^  ...  ,  multitude  of  microscopical  blood-vessels 
Capillaries 

(capillaries).  The  essential  nature  of  res- 
piration will  be  explained  under  the  circulation.  The 
important  point  to  remember  now  is  that  the  air  must 
be  in  contact  with  the  walls  of  the  capillaries,  so  that 
respiration  may  go  on.  These  blood-vessels  ramify 
over  all  the  little  pouches  or  vesicles  at  the  extremities 
and  in  the  course  of  the  air-tubes.  The  popular  con- 
ception seems  to  be  that  a  lung  is  a  soft,  semi- solid 
mass  through  which  the  air  drifts  as  it  might  through 
loose  sand.    That  is  entirely  wrong.     The  lungs  are 

a  symmetrical  collection  of  correlated  cavi- 
Lungs  ... 

ties  which  exist  not  merely  at  the  extremity 

of  some  particular  line  of  tubing,  but  branch  from  all 
the  tubes,  as  microscopical  as  they  are  themselves,  in 
all  directions,  so  that  a  rude  illustration  might  be  that 
of  a  tree  in  full  leaf.  The  tubes,  therefore,  through 
which  the  outer  air  enters  are  not  the  lungs ;  the  cavities,, 
that  is  the  air-spaces,  are  not  the  lungs;  but  the  very 
Lung-  delicate  membrane  which  is  the  end  and 
membrane  limitation  of  the  labyrinth  may  be  thus 
regarded.  It  is  in  this  membrane  that  occurs  the 
deposit  of  tubercle  which  causes  consumption.     This 


The  Lungs  and  Respiration  19 

delicate  membrane  is  the  mechanical  support  of  the 
invisibly  minute  blood-vessels  which  com- 
pletely overlace  its  surface,  and  it  has  an 
available  exposure  to  the  air  variously  estimated  at 
from  870  to  2140  square  feet.  The  surface  of  the 
body  runs  from  16  to  21 J  square  feet,  so  that  the  un- 
folded lung-sheet  would  be  from  50  to  100  times  the 
area  of  our  skins.     The  lungs  may  be  thought  of  as 

two  collections  of  delicate  film  arranged  in 

.,  ,  -       .  ,  ,  ,         Lungs 

a  wilderness  of  mmute  tubes,  and  covered 

with  a  close  network  of  microscopical  blood-vessels, 

so  that  the  air  passes  on  both  sides  of  this  supporting 

membrane  and  bathes  the  vessels'  walls. 

The  mechanical  action  of  the  lungs  is  this:  The 

chest-walls,  the  ribs  covered  with  muscles,  are  flexible 

and    the    chest    capacity    may    be    altered    Mechan- 

T      111        1     •  isiti  of 

laterally  and  perpendicularly  by  their  move-    breathing 

ment  and  that  of  the  diaphragm.     The  air  enters  the 

lungs  by  atmospheric  pressure  as  the  walls  expand,  and 

it  is  forced  out  as  they  contract.     As  the  windpipe  is 

merely  a  supply-pipe,  to    cut   it  and  thus  make  an 

additional    entrance    for  air  is  not  fatal  as  popular 

fiction  sometimes  represents. 

As  the  membrane  that  forms  the  finer  air-channels  is 

clastic  and  the  chest-walls  are  movable,  when  more  air 

enters  these  passages  they  expand  and  may  be  stretched. 

When  the  air  escapes  or  is  not  present  in  fair  amount, 

they  contract.     Hence  they  may  be  strained     Straining 

under  severe  exertion,  so  as  to  fail  to  contract     passages 

normally  afterward.     This  condition  in  man  is  called 


20  Personal  Hygiene 

emphysema,  in  horses  heaves.  When  inadequately 
supplied  with  air,  particularly  after  unusual  develop- 
ment, as  in  athletic  training,  they  may  come  together 
and  in  the  outer  portions  of  the  lung  may  even  col- 
Collapse  lapse.  But  the  ordinary  evil  is  insufficient 
of  air-  ^  .  .,.,... 

passages     expansion,  so  that  the   aerial  tide  fails  to 

bathe  all  the  recesses. 

What  is  the  object  of  respiration,  and  how  is  it 
accomplished?  The  enormously  extended  and  pro- 
portionately plicated  pulmonary  membrane,  which 
sustains  and  exposes  to  the  air  the  innumerable 
microscopic  blood-vessels,  has  no  active  function. 
Respiration  effects  the  purification  of  the  blood  by 
the  action  of  the  air  directly  through  the  capillaries. 
The  capillary  blood-vessels  are  somewhat  elastic, 
microscopic  tubes  filled  with  blood,  whose  walls  are 
so  thin  and  their  structure  so  simple  that, 
within  the  lungs,  carbon  dioxide  (CO2)  con- 
tained in  the  blood  is  given  out  as  a  gas  and  oxygen 
(O)  is  absorbed  directly  from  the  air  through  them. 
Such  elimination  of  gaseous  waste  and  absorption  of 
fresh  oxygen  is  an  essential  condition  of  animal  life. 
The  carbon  dioxide  taken  up  by  the  blood  in  its  passage 
through  the  body  (to  be  explained  later)  is  carried  to 
the  lungs,  where  it  simply  escapes.  The  lungs  afford 
the  blood  this  opportunity  to  purify  itself,  and  respira- 
Respira-  tion  is  essentially  the  absorption  by  the  blood 
****"  of  a  vital  quality  from  the  fresh  air  and 

the  emission  of  impurities  into  that  air.  Why  this  is 
necessary  will  be  explained  in  another  chapter;    but 


The  Lungs  and  Respiration  ±1 

the  special  point  is,  always  to  regard  breathing  as  con- 
nected with  blood-making.  The  quantity  and  espe- 
cially the  quality  of  the  air  we  breathe  is  more  important 
than  that  of  the  food  we  eat.  Respiration  is  essentially 
a  vital  process,  whose  cessation  quickly  terminates 
life.  To  take  in  impure  air  or  insufficient  air  is  a 
step  toward  not  breathing  at  all. 

Breathing  is  better  carried  on  through  the  nose 
with  the  mouth  closed.  In  cold  climates  Nose- 
the  air  is  somewhat  warmed,  gross  floating  breathing 
particles  are  strained  out,  and  some  offensive  impuri- 
ties may  be  detected  by  the  sense  of  smell.  The  rate 
of  respiration  varies  with  the  age.  It  is  about  once 
in  four  seconds  for  an  adult  man  sitting  quietly, 
that  is,  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  times  a  Rate  of  ' 
minute.  It  is  greater  in  youth  and  still  respiration 
greater  in  childhood.  It  is  very  readily  disturbed 
by  emotion?  or  by  muscular  activity;  a  small  man 
breathes  a  little  more  frequently  than  a  large  one,  and  a 
woman  than  a  man.  The  rate  is  less  when  sitting 
than  standing,  and  when  lying  than  sitting.  It  is 
about  one-fourth  less  when  sleeping,  and  it  increases  a 
little  after  meals.  All  this  shows  its  relation  to  the 
circulation,  and  remembering  that  respiration  means 
blood-renovation,  it  is  evident  that  as  the  heart  beats 
faster  we  must  breathe  faster.  As  compared  with  the 
throb  of  the  pulse,  adult  undisturbed  respiration  is 
about  one  to  four,  and  between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and 
twenty  it  is  one  to  three  and  a  half. 

The  range  of  voluntary  modification  of  respiration 


11  Personal  Hygiene 

is  very  limited,  and  it  is  quite  impossible  to  commit 
suicide  by  holding  one's  breath,  although  choking  by 
Modified  violence  is  quickly  fatal.  It  is  not  so  gen- 
respiration  Q^Q\\y  appreciated,  but  it  is  perfectly  true, 
that  impure  or  insufficient  air,  whether  the  insufficiency 
is  due  to  a  really  inadequate  supply,  to  imperfectly 
expanded  lungs,  or  to  a  vitiated  atmosphere,  diminishes 
strength  and  deteriorates  health.  All  the  air  in  the 
lungs  is  constantly  changing,  and  "tidal  air"  means 
Nomen=  the  volume  which  comes  and  goes  in  ordinary 
clature  respiration ;  "  complemental  air  "  is  the  addi- 
tional amount  that  it  is  possible  to  inspire;  and  "  residual 
air  "  is  the  quantity  that  always  remains  in  the  lungs, 
is  directly  charged  with  the  interchange  of  gases  from 
the  blood,  and  which  cannot  be  expelled. 

The  extent  of  the  breathing  space  is  important.  It 
is  the  measure  of  air  that  can  be  expired  after  forcible 
Vital  inspiration,    and    is    known    as    the    vital 

capacity  capacity.  It  represents  the  entire  volume 
of  air  concerned  in  forcible  respiration  exclusive  of 
the  residual  air,  and  is,  not  the  measure  of  what 
ordinarily  is  respired,  but,  of  what  may  be  respired, 
of  what  a  person  may  depend  upon  in  an  emer- 
gency, and  it  bears  a  relation  to  height  so  nearly 
fixed  that  a  standard  table  may  be  formulated.  The 
factors  determining  vital  capacity  are  chest  measure- 
ment, which  is  the  circumference  of  the  chest  at  the 
points  of  the  shoulder-blades  in  extreme  expiration, 
and  chest  mobility,  which  is  the  difference  .over  the 
same  circle  between  the  extremes  of  forcible  expiration 


The  Lungs  and  Respiration  23 

and  inspiration.  Of  these  chest  mobility  is  much  the 
more  important,  for  in  taking  chest  measurement 
allowance  cannot  well  be  made  for  an  excess  of  fat, 
or  occasionally  of  muscle.  For  convenience,  the  nor- 
mal weight  in  proportion  to  the  height  is  added.  All 
the  figures  represent  the  subject  stripped.  To  obtain 
approximate  weight  when  clothed,  add  ten  pounds. 
The  present  military  standard  for  recruits,  which  is 
rather  below  the  ideal,  is: 

Table  of  Vital  Capacity  and  Weight. 

Chest. 
Height  in  Inches.    '  *     ]  ^    Weight  in  Pounds. 

Measurement.  Mobility. 

64-67  — - — h  J  inch        2    inches  2  to  the  inch 

68-70                       ^^^g^^                    .  ]   2    to    the    inch 

2                         I  2|  inches  (     phis  5  for  every 

71  and  above       \  height  ,  .     u     ^      •     y,  f     inch  above  5  ft. 

72  and  above       /      2  *                 ^  J     7  i^- 

The  contents  of  the  chest,   the  heart  and  lungs, 
generate  the  steam  that  drives  the  animal  mechanism, 
and  the  capacity  of  the  chest  is  a  measure  importance 
of   vitality.      The    fuel-box   is   below   the  chest 
diaphragm.      Arms  and  legs  are  mere  accessories,  of 
no  vital  importance.     Excess  of  stature  from  long  legs 
and  a  long  neck  is  a  physiological  blemish,  rather  than 
an   advantage.     The  physical  essentials  of  a  sound 
heart  and  capacious  lungs  are  worth  all  possible  exer- 
tion to  secure  and  retain.     But  to  attempt  to  increase 
capacity  beyond  the  standard  of  the  par-    Over= 
ticular   type   is   an   error,    for   strain   may    strain 
damage  the  elasticity  of  the  air-vesicles.     So,  when  they 


^4  Personal  Hygiene 

suddenly  pass  into  disuse  after  unusual  development, 
there  is  risk  that  they  may  collapse  upon  themselves 
and  yield  opportunity  for  the  deposit  of  tubercle  and 
the  development  of  consumption.  Boating  contests  and 
the  racing-track  furnish  ultimate  victims  from  this  very 
cause,  and  the  football  contingents  are  not  always 
free  from  this  unhappy  record.  The  general  lesson 
applicable  to  all  physical  exercise  is,  not  to  develop  the 
chest  to  the  point  of  strain,  and  after  training  always 
to  resume  ordinary,  and  especially  sedentary,  occupa- 
tions gradually. 

With  age  the  costal  cartilages  stiffen  and  the  ribs  lose 
part  of  their  mobility;  but  systematic  exercise  will 
Continued  preserve  the  elasticity  of  the  chest  into 
exercise  mature  and  even  advanced  years,  so  that 
it  should  not  be  abandoned  when  youth  has  passed. 


IV 

The  Heart  and  the  Circulation 

TDESIDES  the  lungs,  the  chest  contains  the  heart. 
"^^^  This  is  a  hollow  muscle,  approximately  the  size 
of  the  fist,  divided  into  four  chambers,  and  j^t.  i.  ^ 
enclosed  in  a  bag  (pericardium)  whose 
lower  part  is  attached  to  the  diaphragm.  The  muscular 
walls  of  these  four  chambers  are  woven  together  so  as 
to  form  two  pumps.  One  of  these  pumps  sends  the 
blood  through  the  lungs  for  purification  by  the  air; 
the  other  impels  it  through  the  body  at  large,  carrying 
nutriment  to  and  waste  from  all  parts.  Lying  in  two 
pairs,  side  by  side,  these  chambers  are  conveniently 
known  as  the  right  and  left  hearts.  The  upper  cavi- 
ties are  the  auricles,  the  lower  the  ventricles — designa- 
tions having  no  application  to  their  functions.  The 
blood  that  has  just  made  the  round  of  the  body  flows 
into  the  right  auricle.  When  nearly  full.  Course  of 
this  contracts  and  the  blood  passes  through  ^^^  blood 
an  opening  guarded  by  valves  into  the  right  ven- 
tricle. When  the  ventricle  is  full,  it  contracts  and  the 
blood  escapes  into  an  artery  which  carries  it  to  the 
lungs.    After  passing  through  the  lungs  it  enters  in 

25 


26  Personal  Hygiene 

succession  the  left  auricle  and  ventricle  and  then  into 
a  very  large  artery  for  distribution,  through  subdividing 
arteries,  throughout  the  body.  When  the  blood 
reaches  the  extremities  of  the  arteries,  whether  those 
carrying  it  to  the  lungs  or  to  the  body  at  large,  it 
enters  very  minute  vessels  known  as  capillaries,  and 
ffom  these  it  passes  into  the  veins  and  so  back  to  the 
heart.  The  only  special  feature  of  the  circulation 
important  to  remember  in  this  connection  is  the  valves, 
why  they  exist  and  how  they  may  be  damaged.  The 
right  and  left  hearts  have  no  direct  intercommunica- 
tion, but  there  is  necessarily  an  opening  between  the 
auricle  and  ventricle  of  each  pair.  These  openings 
are  protected  by  valves  which  shut  very 
much  like  folding  doors,  or  like  the  gates 
of  a  canal-lock,  yielding  at  the  proper  time  to  the 
natural,  but  closing  against  the  reverse,  current. 
Should  they  become  impaired  by  disease  or  damaged 
by  strain,  a  backward  current  might  be  set  up.  Now 
it  is  possible,  either  from  overfilling  or  by  extreme 
pressure  under  exertion,  for  a  valve  to  be  stretched  or 
strained  so  that  it  may  leak  a  little;  and  one  form  of 
valvular  disease  of  the  heart  begins  in  exactly  that 
way,  by  mechanical  strain.  This  vital  organ,  the 
Growth  of  heart,  which  cannot  be  tampered  with 
the  heart  -^{i}^  impunity,  develops  very  irregularly.  It 
grows  rapidly  in  infancy;  between  the  ages  of  7  and 
14  its  annual  increase  is  only  about  8  per  cent.;  but 
during  the  period  of  puberty  it  doubles  in  volume, 
and  after  puberty  it  increases  in  capacity  and  strength 


The  Heart  and  the  Circulation        27 

until  the  age  of  25,  sometimes  of  30  years.  A  knowl- 
edge of  these  changes  is  important  to  the  young. 
The  demands  upon  the  heart  of  the  growing  age, 
and  immediately  thereafter,  are  very  great.  As  with 
all  organs  that  have  grown  rapidly,  there  is  usually  a 
lack  of  reserve  energy  in  the  youthful  heart  for  special 
emergencies.  This  is  particularly  the  case  with  those 
who  have  grown  very  quickly,  and  especially  for  those 
much  above  the  common  height.  Besides,  during  this 
period  the  heart  is  especially  susceptible  to  irritable 
agitation  through  disturbance  of  the  general  heart 
nervous  system  by  vices  connected  with  the  reproduc- 
tive apparatus,  by  the  premature  use  of  alcohol,  and 
particularly  by  tobacco  poisoning,  of  which  that  due 
to  cigarette  smoking  is  peculiarly  pernicious.  Through 
these  artificial  and  damaging  influences  the  heart 
becomes  irritable,  easily  excited,  and  does  not  soon 
recover  its  steadiness;  and  an  irritable  heart  is  always 
a  serious  handicap.  Besides,  the  growing  heart  has 
normally  little  reserve  force.  It  may  easily  Heart- 
be  strained  by  racing,  whether  on  foot  or  strain 
on  the  wheel,  by  cross-country  runs  when  carried  to 
exhaustion,  and  by  injudicious  gymnastics  and  unregu- 
lated athletics.  There  is  also  danger  from  simple  feats 
of  strength  when  unduly  prolonged.  In  the  young 
recovery  fortunately  occurs  after  prolonged  abstinence 
from  such  exertion,  but  it  is  unwise  to  risk  the  integrity 
of  the  heart  by  exertion  recognized  as  extreme.  It 
is  probable  that  some  heart  is  damaged  in  every  great 
athletic  contest  when  the  participants  arc  young,  and 


28  Personal  Hygiene 

among  those  who  fail  to  quahfy  for  such  undertakings 
actual  or  threatened  physical  harm  is  quite  as  sure 
a  factor  as  mere  inaptitude.  Even  the  considerable 
honor  of  class  numerals,  or  a  'varsity  letter,  does  not 
v^arrant  the  risk  of  weakening  a  valve  or  dilating  a 
chamber  with  an  overcharge  of  blood.  This  serious 
warning  as  to  reasonable  caution  is  not  intended  to 
deter  those  tempted  into  the  arena  who  are  properly 
equipped,  still  less  to  discourage  systematic  gymnasium 
work,  which  every  man  physically  qualified  should 
pursue  under  competent  supervision.  It  is  admonition 
against  wrong  methods,  and  especially  against  exhaust- 
ing  effort,   for   fear   of   consecutive   heart-strain.     A 

Inflanima=  particular  condition,  however,  does  call  for 
tory  rheu= 

matism  a  special  caution.  Inflammatory  rheuma- 
tism is  liable,  not  certain,  to  damage  a  valve,  although 
not  painfully,  at  the  same  time  that  the  joints  are 
affected.  This  is  not  unfrequent  in  childhood,  and  a 
youth  who  has  had  that  disease  should  not  indulge 
in  exhausting,  or  even  in  very  violent,  exertion  with- 
out being  assured  by  competent  medical  examination 
that  his  heart  is  sound.  It  is  much  better  to  forego  a 
moderate  pleasure  and  to  relinquish  a  minor  triumph 
than  to  run  a  serious  risk.     But  the  occasional  painful 

Tearing  of  twinges  in  the  chest- walls  after  sharp  ffvm- 
muscular  ?     „  i    i      •  i 

fibres  nastic  effort  are  not  to  be  confounded  with 

harm  done  the  heart.     These  are  merely  the  stretching 

or  tearing  of  some  trifling  muscular  fibre,  and  are  of 

no  consequence.      Strain  of    the  heart,  or    valvular 

disease,   is  rarely  marked  by  pain.     There  may  be 


The  Heart  and  the  Circulation        29 

breathlessness  upon  moderate  exertion  and  a  sense  of 
oppression;  seldom,  if  ever,  sensitiveness. 

Blood-vessels  are  of  three  distinct  classes,  arteries, 
veins,  and  capillaries.  For  all  vital  purposes  the 
capillaries  are  by  far  the  most  important.  Blood= 
The  blood  passes  from  the  heart  by  way  'vessels 
of  the  arteries  through  the  entire  body  and  returns 
to  that  centre  by  way  of  the  veins.  Both  of  these  are 
mere  passive  channels.  They  are  important  as  chan- 
nels, but  they  do  not  contribute  directly  to  vital  changes. 
Every  artery  divides  in  its  course  into  two  others  each 
of  more  than  half  its  own  capacity,  or  the  main  stem 
gives  off  branches  which  collectively  have  a  greater 
diameter  than  the  parent  vessel.  The  cross-section 
of  all  the  minor  arteries  exceeds  that  of  those  from  which 
they  are  derived,  consequently  the  friction  is  less 
and  the  flow  of  blood  is  facilitated.  The  reverse  is 
true  with  the  veins.  The  smaller  veins  coalesce  into 
larger  ones  as  they  approach  the  heart.  The  walls  of 
the  arteries  are  relatively  thick  and  elastic  and  do  not 
collapse  when  cut  across.     Upon  this  elasticity  depends 

the  phenomenon  known  as  the  pulse.     A     ^  . 

•  -11         Pulse 

pulse  is  the  wave  of  blood  driven  by  the 

contraction  of  the  heart  through  the  arteries,  and 
recognized  anywhere  by  gentle  compression  against  a 
resisting  background.  The  beat  does  not  interpret 
the  forward  movement  of  the  blood  so  much  as  it  does 
the  wave-like  impulse,  the  undulation,  the  propagated 
motion  from  the  heart,  recognizable  through  the  plas- 
ticity of  the  arterial  walls.    There  are  numerous  acessi- 


30  Personal  Hygiene 

ble  pulses,  but  the  one  ordinarily  used  is  where  the 
artery  is  gently  compressed  against  the  radius,  on  the 
thumb  side  of  the  wrist.  An  unskilled  person  who 
attempts  to  feel  the  pulse  in  accident  or  sudden  illness, 
to  determine  whether  the  heart  still  beats,  is  some- 
times deceived  by  the  vessel  lying  too  deep  for  easy 
recognition.  Therefore  failure  to  find  the  pulse  at  the 
wrist  is  not  a  surely  fatal  sign.  There  are  accessible 
pulses  in  the  neck,  over  the  temple,  at  the  angle  of  the 
jaw,  in  the  groin,  in  the  inner  part  of  the  arm  and  of 
the  'thigh,  and  under  the  inrier  ankle,  any  of  which 
may  be  used  to  determine  the  action  of  the  heart  or  to 
control    adjacent    bleeding.     The   normal   pulse-rate, 

_.  ,  ^  that  is  the  heart-beat,  for  an  adult  man  in 
Pulse=rate 

repose  is  72  a  minute.  This  is  increased  by 
muscular  exertion,  sometimes  to  more  than  200  a  minute 
for  a  short  time,  which  involves  tremendous  strain  of 
the  heart ;  and  it  may  vary  between  recumbency,  sitting, 
and  standing  by  eight  to  ten  beats  a  minute.  It  also  re- 
sponds quickly  to  emotion.  A  pulse  persistently  much 
slower  or  much  faster  than  normal  usually,  not  always, 
is  a  sign  of  ill  health.  An  excitable  and  rapid  pulse,  in  a 
youth  otherwise  well,  generally  means  an  irritable  heart 
from  the  abuse  of  tobacco  or  from  vice.  In  women  the 
pulse  is  normally  slightly  faster  than  in  men,  in  children 
it  is  much,  and  in  youths  it  is  moderately,  faster  than 
in  adults.  In  the  old  it  is  apt  to  be  somewhat  slower. 
Veins  are  much  softer  and  more  collapsible  than 
Veins  arteries,  and  the  most  of  them  have  pocket- 

like valves  in  the  walls  to  support  the  column  of  blood. 


The  Heart  and  the  Circulation        3 1 

Neither  arteries  nor  veins  contribute  directly  to  vital 

action.     But  between   the   smallest   arteries   and   the 

smallest  veins  are  interposed  the  capillaries,  ^     ... 

,      ,      ,  ,  ,  r  Capillaries 

distmct  from  both  the  others,  by  means  of 

which  all  the  vital  action  in  which  the  blood  takes  part 

is   carried   on.     They   are,    therefore,   of  the   utmost 

physiological    importance,   but    their    significance    is 

popularly  overlooked. 

The  capillaries,  which  are  infinitesimally  short  as 

well  as  slender,  are  of  the  practically  uniform  diameter 

of  about  a  five-thousandth  of  an  inch,  and  the  blood 

carries  on  its  peculiar  work  while  traversing  them. 

The    blood    transports    nutriment    to    all  Province 

c      ^         ^         ^  -  ■  i  •  Of thC 

parts  of  the  body;  it  carries  to  the  various  blood 
tissues  the  oxygen  so  necessary  to  their  life,  which  it 
absorbed  while  in  the  lungs;  and  it  bears  the  waste 
products  from  the  tissues  and  disposes  of  them  in 
various  ways.  These  somewhat  elastic,  very  minute, 
vessels  have  walls  so  thin  and  with  a  struc-  Osmotic 
ture  so  simple  that  through  them  in  the  the  caoil- 
lungs  the  carbon  dioxide  passes  in  one  direc-  laries 
tion  and  oxygen  in  the  other;  in  such  organs  as  the 
liver  they  supply  material  for  secretion;  in  the  intes- 
tines they  take  up  the  digested  food;  in  the  excretory 
organs,  as  the  kidneys,  they  emit  the  waste ;  and  always 
and  everywhere  there  is  going  on  that  interchange 
upon  which  depends  the  life  of  the  body.  Speaking 
generally,  this  action  is  one  of  osmosis,  and  the  capillary 
walls  are  osmotic  membranes.  Nutrition  and  waste  are 
accomplished  not  only  by  means  of  the  capillaries,  but 


32  Personal  Hygiene 

directly  through  their  walls,  as  the  juice  of  crushed 
fruit  oozes  through  a  linen  bag  without  rupture  of  the 
texture,  and  these  minute  elastic  tubes  are  in  some 
respects  the  most  important  of  the  physical  agencies. 
Ri  hi  They  are  also  capable  of  dilatation,  as  seen 
in  blushing  when  nervous  control  is  tem- 
porarily lost  through  emotion,  and  in  the  permanent 
flush  of  a  drunkard's  face  and  the  congestion  of  his 
interior  economy. 

The  arteries,  the  capillaries,  and  the  veins,  each  a 
distinct  class,  are  all  continuous  and  designed  to  con- 
vey the  blood  about  the  body.  But  it  is  through  the 
capillaries  that  the  blood  itself  carries  out  its  physio- 
logical purpose.  The  blood,  for  whose  circulation  this 
Nature  of  complicated  network  is  arranged,  is  a 
blood  watery   fluid,    or   plasma,    in   which   float 

innumerable  small  corpuscular  bodies.  The  plasma 
is  a  mixed  solution  of  nutritive  material  and  waste. 
The  most  of  the  floating  corpuscles  individually  are 
a  dirty  yellow,  and  in  mass  they  are  red.  About  one 
in  three  hundred  is  white.  The  white  corpuscles  are 
important,  but  their  functions  do  not  concern  us  in 
this  connection.  The  blood  that  returns  to  the  heart 
through  the  veins,  from  the  body,  is  a  dark-red  or 
purple,  because  of  the  carbon  dioxide  it  holds  in  solu- 
Carbon  tion.  Complex  tissues  have  broken  down 
dioxide  ^^^  carbon  dioxide  has  diffused  into  the 
blood  in  the  capillaries  on  its  way  to  the  veins.  This 
dark-red  blood  is  driVen  by  the  right  heart  into  those 
other  capillaries  that  lie  in  the  great  multiple  membranes 


The  Heart  and  the  Circulation        33 

that  we  call  the  lungs,  and  the  carbon  dioxide  escapes 
by  osmotic  action  through  the  capillary  walls  into  the 
aerial  tide  which  flows  around  the  pulmonary  alveoli, 
and  thence  by  expiration  into  the  general  atmosphere. 
Should  the  carbon  dioxide  not  escape,  the  animal  is 
made  ill  by  self-poisoning  and  ultimately  dies.  Simul- 
taneously oxygen  from  the  fresh  air  that  has 
been  drawn  into  the  lungs  passes  through 
the  capillary  walls  and  is  absorbed  by  the  red  corpuscles, 
changing  their  color  to  scarlet.  The  red  corpuscles 
are  essentially  oxygen-carriers,  and  when  the  freshened 
blood  passes  from  the  heart  into  the  capillaries  of  the 
body  they  yield  the  oxygen,  which  escapes  through  the 
walls  and  the  carbon  dioxide  in  turn  is  taken  up.  The 
student  must  not  suppose  that  these  are  in  the  arteries 
and  veins  in  gaseous  form,  but  remember  that  they  are 
held  in  solution  in  the  blood  ready  to  escape  as  gases 
under  proper  conditions. 

The  adaptation  to  life  of  the  atmospheric  ocean 
at  whose  bottom  we  live  is  remarkable.  In  general 
terms  we  breathe  a  mixture,  not  a  union,  of  Atmos- 
oxygen  and  nitrogen,  containing  also  minute  P''®*'® 
quantities  of  other  gases  which,  as  far  as  we  now  under- 
stand them,  are  negligible.  The  oxygen  and  nitrogen 
are  not  united  to  make  a  third,  but  for  convenience  we 
give  the  mixture  a  new  name  and  call  it  air.  Chem- 
ically the  gases  are  unaltered  and  we  are  able  to 
breathe  the  air  because  the  oxygen  is  free,  is  in  com- 
panionship, not  in  union,  with  the  nitrogen.  A  dis- 
advantage is  that  the  mixture  may,  and  sometimes  does, 


34  Personal  Hygiene 

receive  contaminating  gases,   as  from  factories   and 

sewers,  from  combustion  and  from  respiration  itself, 

when  their  products  are  not  properly  removed;  that 

Contami-    jg    when   there   is   not    the  adequate  ven- 

nating  ,,     .  ,.,.„.  , 

gases  tilation  which  mtelligence  and  energy  may 

always  provide.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  character  of  our  blood,  and  hence  our  inherent 
Air  makes  vitality,  depends  more  upon  the  air  we 
blood  breathe  than  upon  the  food  we  eat.     Cer- 

tainly impure  air  means  impoverished  blood;  and, 
equally,  insufficient  air  means  inadequate  blood.  It 
cannot  be  too  clearly  remembered  and  acted  upon  that 
respiration  is  a  vital  process,  and  that  the  gases  which 
enter  the  lungs  are  taken  up  by  the  blood  for  good  or 
for  evil.  If  the  air  is  pure,  the  blood  is  renewed;  if 
it  is  breathed-over  air,  the  blood  is  contaminated ;  if  it 
is  poisonous  air,  from  a  sewer  or  a  cigarette,  the  blood 
is  poisoned.  These  conditions  apply  to  daily  life, 
particularly  to.  residence  within  doors,  and  to  the 
Ni  ht  I  watches  of  the  night  as  well.  Many  a  man 
who  opens  his  windows  by  day  closes  them 
at  night.  There  is  no  better  reason  why  he  should 
suffocate  himself  in  any  degree  by  night  than  by  day. 
If  the  domestic  ventilation  is  sufficiently  inadequate  to 
require  such  air- channels  at  one  time,  it  would  also 
at  another,  especially  as  the  occupation  is  more  con- 
tinuous and  the  incidental  currents  from  doors  and 
passageways  are  less.  He  is  apt  to  plead  fear  of  the 
night  air.  At  that  season  the  night  air  is  all  the  air 
there  is,  and  there  is  no  good  reason  to  exclude  it 


The  Heart  and  the  Circulation        35 

merely  because  of  the  time  of  day.  Noxious  insects, 
more  prevalent  at  night,  should  be  guarded  against; 
dampness,  due  to  the  absence  of  the  sun's  warmth, 
should  be  antagonized;  but  it  is  hurtful  to  exclude 
the  fresh  atmosphere  because  of  non-essential  inci- 
dents which  may  be  neutralized.  Some  gases  quickly 
destroy  life,  others  slowly  undermine  health.  The 
latter  are  generally  of  our  own  making,  and  both  should 
be  avoided. 

The  normal  quantity  of  blood  in  the  body  is  estimated 
at  about  /j,  or  7.7  per  cent.,  of  the  gross  weight.  •  Thus, 
a  man  weighing  140  lbs.  would  have  about  Amount 
io|  lbs.,  or  II  pints,  of  blood.  Any  partic-  ***  blood 
ular  portion  of  blood  is  supposed  to  make  the  circuit  of 
the  body  in  about  23  seconds.  A  man  may  lose  at  one 
time  nearly  3  per  cent,  of  his  own  weight,  or  about 
4^  pints  in  volume,  of  blood  without  necessarily  fatal 
results.  Accidental  bleeding  to  any  extent  is  to  be 
deprecated,  but  the  amount  lost  is  easily  overestimated, 
especially  if  it  is  caught  in  a  vessel  where  there  already 
is  water.  A  little  blood  will  color  a  relatively  large 
quantity  of  water  and  deceive  the  unaccustomed  eye. 

It  would  be  beside  our  purpose  to  describe  the 
capillary  service  in  other  great  internal  organs.  The 
<;ntire  interior  of  the  body  is  traversed  by  Capillaries 
numerous  enclosed  channels  through  which  elsewhere 
the  blood  courses  to  and  from  the  heart,  and  all  the 
interspaces  arc  filled  with  a  vast  network  of  micro- 
scopical vessels.  From  all  of  these  capillaries  fluid  is 
constantly  oozing,  not  as  blood  but  as  its  constituent 


36  Personal  Hygiene 

parts;  and  into  them  waste  material  is  entering,  not 
as  organized  waste  but  as  worn  matter  for  later  dis- 
position. That  one  can  scarcely  intrude  the  point  of 
a  needle  into  the  flesh  without  drawing  blood,  means 
that  a  needle's  point  is  too  coarse  to  pass  between  the 
meshes. 


The  Nervous  System 

A  S  Watson  long  ago  remarked,  the  nervous  system 
^  is  the  third  leg  of  the  tripod  upon  which  animal 
life  rests.  The  other  two  are  respiration  and  the  cir- 
culation. Through  the  nervous  system  man  himself, 
not  merely  his  physical  envelope,  is -brought  into  rela- 
tion with  the  outer  world  and  the  conditions  of  time 
and  space.  The  nerve-cell,  which  corresponds  physio- 
logically to  the  molecule  of  the  chemist,  is  the  elementary 
unit  and,  in  its  various  combinations,  Brain, 
makes  up  the  brain,  spinal  cord,  nerves,  and  Nerves*^** 
ganglia,  which  are  the  working  apparatus  Ganglia 
of  the  nervous  system.  The  nerve-cell  originates  and 
conveys  nervous  impulses.  It  responds,  without  recog- 
nizable change,  to  stimulation.  Muscle  changes  form 
when  it  displays  energy;  bone  does  not  respond  to 
stimulus;  but  a  nerve  receives,  originates,  or  transmits 
a  stimulus  without  appreciable  alteration  of  form.  A 
nervous  impulse  once  started  may  arouse  a  similar 
impulse  over  considerable  distances,  and  a  nervous 
current  is  particularly  prone  to  sweep  repeatedly  over 
the  same  course  and  thus  affect  our  daily  life. 

37 


38  Personal  Hygiene 

Nervous  matter  is  gray  or  white.     Nervous  force 

appears  to  originate  in  the  gray  and  to  be  transmitted 

along  the  white  matter.     The  brain  is  an  ovoid  white 

„    ,  mass  lying  within  the  skull,  in  which  are 

Brain  , 

embedded  numerous  gray  foci  or  islands, 

and  over  it  is  a  convoluted  (folded)  gray  surface.  All 
the  gray  parts  are  connected  by  white  fibres,  and  the 
gray  brain  is  also  thus  connected  with  the  gray  of  the 
spinal  cord.  The  brain  consists  of  two  lateral  halves 
united  near  the  centre  and  subdivided  into  lobes,  of 
which  an  English  walnut  with  the  shell  removed  is  a 
rough  model.  (O.  W.  Holmes.)  The  interesting,  but 
probably  erroneous,  doctrine  of  the  Duality  of  the  Mind 
rests  upon  this  duplication.  Nervous  manifestations 
really  arise  from  distinct  gray  centres.  Every  brain  has 
a  general  resemblande  to  every  other  brain,  but  may 
differ  from  it  in  the  number  and  depth  of  the  gray  folds. 
Upon  this  difference  and  probably  upon  the  inherent 
quality  of  the  gray  matter  depends  the  capacity  of  the 
mind,  which  is  physically  dependent  upon  the  brain 
for  its  operation.  In  infants  and  idiots  these  folds  are 
meagre  and  shallow,  in  intellectual  men  they  are  con- 
spicuous and  deep.  But  as  their  number  and  quality 
cannot  be  determined,  mere  inspection  fails  to  show 
natural  capacity.  Nevertheless  in  general  terms  the 
size  of  the  skull  implies  the  weight  of  the  brain,  and 
in  dealing  with  considerable  numbers  we  find  the  large- 
brained  men  to  be  the  superior  as  a  class,  although  the 
factor  of  quality  may  disturb  the  finding  in  any  particu- 
lar case.    At  all  events  narrow  foreheads  and  narrow 


The  Nervous  System  39 

minds  seem  closely  associated.  The  pseudo-science 
of  phrenology  appears  to  have  no  scientific  basis,  but 
there  is  a  higher  phrenological  doctrine  *  which  is 
plausible.  This  associates  the  pre-frontal  lobes  with 
intellection,  those  just  below  and  behind  them  (tempero- 
sphenoidal)  as  connected  with  the  propensities  com- 
mon to  man  and  the  lower  animals,  the  emotions  with 
the  parietal  and  the  hinder  parts  of  the  frontal  lobes, 
and  places  the  domestic  and  social  affections  in  the 
occiput.  Although  not  demonstrated,  this  is  at  least 
credible.  The  standard  weight  of  the  adult  white 
male  brain  is  49.5-50  ounces;  the  female  brain  about 
44  ounces.  The  brain  increases  rapidly  in  weight 
until  the  seventh  year,  more  slowly  until  between 
16  and  20,  still  more  slowly  until  its  maximum  at  40, 
and  after  50  it  slowly  loses  about  one  ounce  in  every 
ten  years.     The  spinal  cord,  enclosed  and  protected 

by  the  spinal  canal,  is  continuous  with  the  „  .     . 

,      .  .      .      ,         ,  .  .  Spinal  cord 

bram,  but  m  it  the  white  matter  is  super- 
ficial and  the  gray  is  central.  Death  promptly  follows 
whenever  the  cord  is  severed  high  up,  whether  pierced 
by  the  garrote,  torn  on  the  gallows,  or  crushed  by 
breaking  the  neck  in  shallow  water  or  elsewhere. 
Interrupted  lower  down,  by  disease  or  by  violence, 
sensation  and  voluntary  motion  are  abolished  below 
that  point.  This  continuous  nervous  mass  communi- 
cates with  the  organism  at  large  by  the  nerves  which 
escape  through  openings  between  the  vertebne. 

*  Mental  Functions  of  the  Brain.     (B.  Hollander.) 


40  Personal  Hygiene 

The  brain  as  the  seat  of  the  mind  induces  the 
voluntary  movements  of  the  body.  Automatic  action 
inspired  by  portions  of  the  cord  may  be  modified 
by  the  brain,  but  when  not  thus  controlled  the  co^d 
itself  superintends  complicated  movements,  as  walk- 
ing or  dancing,  without  the  intervention  of  thought. 
The  lower  cord  contains  centres  that  respond  equally 
to  emotion  and  sensation,  and,  when  stimulated  act 
reciprocally;  but  these  may  also  be  controlled  in  their 
operations  by  the  active  brain. 

Nerves  are  slender  whitish  cords  running  from  the 
nervous  centres  to  all  parts  of  the  body.     Alike  in 

structure,  those  from  the  brain  and  the 
Nerves 

cord  are  sensory  (afferent)  or  motor  (effer- 
ent). Both  lie  indistinguishably  together,  the  sen- 
sory being  those  which  convey  impressions  from  with- 
out to  the  nervous  centres,  whence  the  outward  im- 
pulses are  borne  by  the  motor  nerves.  Some  of  the 
cranial  nerves  are  those  of  special  sense.     There  is 

Sympa=       q\^q  ^  system  chiefly  within  the  trunk,  the 

thetic  /    .        .  .  . 

nerve  sympathetic    (or    organic)    nerves,    arising 

from  ganglia  and  distributed  to  the  viscera  and  the 
blood-vessels  and  connected  with  the  brain  and 
the  cord.  Ganglia  are  enlargements  of  nerve  sub- 
stances, spinal  (general)  and  sympathetic  (organic) 
connected  with  other  ganglia  and  with  the  centra 
system.  The  sympathetic  nerves  chiefly  go  to  organs 
involuntary  in  action  and  obtuse  in  sensibility 
whose  functions  are  subconscious  and  automatic. 
These  nerves  are  affected  not  merely  by  drugs  such 


The  Nervous  System  41 

as  may  act  on  the  other  nerves  as  well,  but  by  bad 
habits  and  indeed  by  emotions  which  may  induce  bad 
habits  as  well  as  by  those  springing  from  them. 

In  health  we  have  no  direct  knowledge  of  possessing 
a  liver,  kidneys,  intestines,  or  other  internal  organs. 
When  subjectively  conscious  of  any  organ  or  append- 
age of  the  body,  something  is  wrong.  The  heart  and 
the  lungs,  for  instance,  do  their  daily  work  under 
control  of  the  sympathetic  without  supervision  and 
without  discomfort.  But  the  sympathetic  system  is 
also  associated  with  other  nerves.  Thus  through  this 
medium  the  pupil  responds  to  emotion  as  Well  as  it 
does  to  light.  A  part  of  the  service  of  the  sympathetic 
is  to  regulate  the  tension  of  the  arteries  and  the  capil- 
laries, by  distributing  to  them  the  filaments  there 
known  as  the  vaso-motor  nerves.  This  control  of 
the  calibre  of  capillaries  (alcohol  dilating,  nicotine 
contracting,  for  example),  is  particularly  important 
in  affecting  the  local  supply  of  blood.  The  pallor  or 
flush  of  the  countenance  is  a  visible  example  of  its 
operation  under  emotion. 

Reflex  action  is  the  simplest  form  of  nervous  activity. 
This  may  or  may  not  involve  the  sympathetic.  An 
appropriate  stimulus  applied  to  a  sensory  Reflex 
nerve  excites  a  motor  response  without  the  action 

intervention  of  consciousness.  Thus  when  light  falls 
upon  the  open  eye  the  muscle  regulating  the  pupil 
contracts.  The  will  has  nothing  to  do  with  it. 
Under  a  bright  hght  the  pui)il  contracts,  we  say 
spontaneously.     A    sleeper    will    involuntarily    with- 


42  Personal  Hygiene 

draw  his  foot  when  it  is  tickled,  owing  to  the  play 
of  a  reflex  centre  in  the  spinal  cord.  If  the  cord 
should  be  severed  above  that  centre,  the  legs  will 
move  in  response  to  the  tickling  without  the  knowledge 
of  the  subject  except  as  he  may  see  their  motion. 
So  food  entering  the  upper  intestine  induces  an  un- 
conscious flow  of  bile.  Other  elements  may  add  to 
the  complexity  of  the  operation,  when  the  gray  mat- 
ter of  the  brain  becomes  involved  and  action  is 
delayed  or  uncertain.  For  instance,  in  the  East  a 
suspected  thief  may  be  detected  through  his  inability 
to  moisten  with  saliva  raw  rice  held  in  his  mouth, 
when  accused  with  the  offence  and  this  impotence 
predicted.  The  emotion  of  guilt  inhibits  the  salivary 
flow  through  reflex  force.  Much  reflex  action  is  too 
common  to  attract  attention  until  we  stop  and  an- 
alyze it.  We  more  easily  observe  examples  in  disease, 
because  they  are  less  familiar  and  are  apt  to  be 
marked  by  suffering;  as  headache  from  a  disordered 
stomach,  or  pain  in  the  knee  when  the  hip  is  affected. 
However,  not  all  pathological  reflexes  are  painful. 
Frequently  a  sensory  impulse  occasions  a  dream  whose 
numerous  incidents  depend,  in  a  not  necessarily 
logical  sequence,  upon  the  first  nervous  irritation. 
Thus,  a  man  aroused  by  the  slamming  of  a  door 
from  a  short  sleep  dreamed  that  he  had  enlisted  in 
the  army,  had  joined  a  distant  regiment,  deserted, 
was  captured,  had  been  tried  by  court  martial,  was 
sentenced  to  be  shot,  was  led  out  to  execution  and 
awoke  at  the  sound  of  the  volley.     Here  the  whole 


The  Nervous  System  43 

chain  of  events,  involving  an  imaginary  enlistment  and 
the  violation  of  his  oath,  was  called  before  his  mind 
by  his  ear  being  startled  at  a  sharp  and  sudden  noise. 
Not  all  dreams  are  reflex,  but  some,  like  that,  clearly 
illustrate  that  phenomenon. 

Reflex  action  has  a  practical  relation  for  students 
in  its  connection  with  eye-strain.  The  unconscious 
effort  of  an  astigmatic  eye  to  neutralize  Astigma- 
its  defects  sets  up  disturbance,  elsewhere.  ing*l-e«ex*" 
Astigmatism  is  rarely  appreciated  as  early  action 
as  simple  near-sightedness,  and  when  not  corrected 
by  glasses  it  occasions  pain,  not  necessarily  in  the 
eyes,  generally  somewhere  in  the  head  or  the  back 
of  the  neck,  frowning,  nausea,  dizziness,  or  even  dys- 
pepsia. Sleeplessness  and  vertigo,  sometimes  night' 
mare,  may  be  attributable  to  the  forced  use  of  astigmatic 
eyes.  Deep  perpendicular  lines  in  the  forehead  of  the 
young  usually  have  eye-strain  behind  them.  The 
habit  of  leaning  the  head  toward  one  shoulder  in 
reading  or  writing  pretty  surely  indicates  mechanical 
trouble  in  the  eye,  with  the  risk  of  some  reflex  being 
established.  Pain,  at  intervals  which  usually  grow 
shorter,  after  reading  or  writing  is  a  sign  of  sucli 
disability;  and  in  some  the  strain  of  gazing  in  a  bril- 
liant theatre,  or  that  of  looking  up  at  a  high  pulpit, 
renders  this  defect  active.  It  has  been  plausibly 
maintained  *    that    the    notorious    intermittent    ill- 


*  Biographic  ClinicS;  by  George  M,  Gould. 


44  .       Personal  Hygiene 

health  of  such  well-known  men  as  Carlyle  and  Darwin 

was  determined  by  unrecognized  astigmatism. 

The  cardiac  and  solar  plexuses  are  large  sympathetic 

networks  which  are  also  connected  with  the  spinal 

^    J.  nerves  and  lie  behind  the  heart  and  the 

Cardiac 

and  solar  stomach  respectively.  The  solar  plexus  is 
p  exuses  distributed  to  the  stomach  and  the  adja- 
cent organs,  as  the  cardiac  plexus  is  to  the  heart;  and 
our  daily  life  is  maintained  in  great  part  by  the  nervous 
force  they  furnish.  Severe  blows  over  the  heart  may 
be  followed  by  faintness,  sometimes  unconsciousness, 
occasionally  death,  from  the  shock  of  the  impact  to 
the  nervous  system.  The  ribs  protect  the  heart  and 
the  nerves  from  direct  injury,  but  the  jar  is  trans- 
mitted to  the  plexus.  A  blow  over  the  stomach  is 
even  more  dangerous  than  one  over  the  heart,  because 
the  solar  plexus  is  larger  and  is  less  protected  from  vio- 
lence. The  padded  guards  of  the  base-ball  catcher  are 
a  tribute  to  the  vulnerability  of  these  localities.  The 
mental  lassitude  that  follows  a  heavy  meal  depends  upon 
the  draft  of  nervous  force,  as  well  as  the  diversion  of  the 
blood-supply  required  by  digestion.  Too  vigorous  ex- 
ercise of  the  brain  while  the  stomach  is  active  is  liable 
to  interfere  with  the  efficiency  of  one  or  the  other. 

The  heart's  action  is  best  revived  in  a  person 
Revival  unconscious  or  prostrated  from  violence,  by 
after  pros-  dry  heat  over  the  heart  through  hot- water 
from  vio-  bags  or  bottles,  hot  sand-bags,  cloths,  or  a 
lence  heated  plate.     If  able  to  swallow,  strong 

coffee,  diluted  aromatic  ammonia,  or  a  very  little  spirits, 


The  Nervous  System  45 

preferably  in  hot  water,  may  be  given.     Alcohol  in 
excess  depresses. 

Depressing  as  well  as  exciting  emotions  act  on  the 
sympathetic,  and  death  has  followed  threatened  be- 
heading after  a  mock  trial.  Hence  the 
danger  as  well  as  the  folly  in  frightening 
children  and  others  of  nervous  susceptibility,  who 
sometimes  lose  health  and  occasionally  reason  by  severe 
nervous  shocks. 

The  complicated  act  of  walking  excellently  illus- 
trates correlated  and  partly  automatic  nervous  action. 
The  brain  wills  walking  to  begin  and  the  Automatic 
cord  maintains  it  without  conscious  effort,  spinal 
The  brain  may  at  any  time  interfere  and 
regulate  the  pace  or  change  the  direction,  but  until  that 
interference  occurs  the  unconscious  spinal  cord  con- 
trols the  exercise.  Skilful  dancing  still  better  illus- 
trates such  automatic  service. 

Different  nervous  manifestations  have  distinct 
sources;  that  is,  localized  brain-centres  control  par- 
ticular actions.  The  whole  brain  does  not  Centres  of 
conduct  the  act  of  writing  or  of  speaking,  action 
certainly  not  the  movement  of  an  arm,  probably  not 
the  play  of  an  emotion.  Within  narrower  limits  this 
is  true  of  the  spinal  cord  where  reflex  centres  may  come 
into  independent  operation  without  reference  to  the 
conscious  mind,  as  illustrated  by  the  feet  that  move 
when  tickled  although  communication  with  the  brain 
may  be  entirely  cut  off.  Sensation  resides  in  the 
brain,  but  motion  may  originate  automatically  en  route. 


46  Personal  Hygiene 

Usually  reflex  centres  coordinate  and  rearrange  re- 
ceived impulses,  producing  an  advantageous  result. 
Thus  the  presence  of  food,  rather  than  the  mere  motion 
of  the  jaws,  excites  the  flow  of  saliva.  Some  centres 
Automatic  are  distinctly  automatic,  as  that  which  con- 
centres ^j-Q^g  respiration.  Breathing  may  be  af- 
fected by  the  will  only  within  very  narrow  limits.  So 
with  the  heart,  whose  perpetual  pumping  exertion 
or  emotion  may  modify  but  the  will  cannot  control. 
A  nervous  impulse  is  transmitted  in  cold-blooded 
animals  about  92  feet  a  second;  in  the  warm-blooded 
Rate  of  a  trifle  more  rapi  ly.  The  natural  differ- 
impulsc  Q^^Q  between  each  other  in  ability  to  per- 
ceive and  to  act  upon  our  percepts  is  the  personal 
Personal  equation.  Tl  is  13  best  observed  in  a  pri- 
equation  jnary  function,  as  making  and  recording  a 
simple  observation.  Originally  connected  with  noting 
the  passage  of  a  star  across  the  meridian,  it  now  has 
a  much  wider  application.  Within  certain  limits  the 
speed  and  accuracy  of  both  observation  and  action  may 
be  increased.  Much  of  the  advantage  of  out-door 
games  is  the  training  of  "the  eye,"  which  besides  speed 
of  vision  means  rapidity  of  judgment  and  the  swiftness 
and  precision  with  which  motor  impulses  call  suc- 
cessive muscles  into  action,  and  the  close  adaptation 
of  mind  and  body  alike  to  the  situation.  Such  bene- 
Acquired  fits  extend  beyond  the  game  to  the  gen- 
skill,  gj-g^j  advantage  of  the  individual.  Acquired 
skill  means  judgment,  promptness  and  agility,  and 
depends  primarily  upon  a  cultivated  nervous  system 


The  Nervous  System  47 

which  also  promotes  efficiency  in  the  classroom,  the 
laboratory,  and  over  the  drawing-board.  But  field 
achievements  should  be  tributary  to  intellectual  prog- 
ress, not  in  place  of  it.  The  Gymkharna  should  be 
an  ally,  not  a  rival,  of  the  College. 

Two  practical  lessons  should  be  learned  about  the 
nervous  system:  (i)  nerve-cells  undergo  constant 
change;    (2)  nervous  action  tends  to  repeat  itself. 

We  may  infer  constant  change  in  the  nerve- cells  from 
the  abundant  blood-supply  of  their  vicinity.  More- 
over, the  microscope  demonstrates  that  Change  In 
nerve  material  is  expended  and  renewed  nerve=cells 
during  respective  periods  of  activity  and  rest.  During 
prolonged  exertion  the  essential  centres  (nuclei)  of 
nerve-cells  shrivel  and  the  whole  cells  diminish  com- 
pared with  those  at  rest.  In  old  age  they  are  habit- 
ually small  and  distorted,  hence  nervous  exhibitions  of 
high  grade  and  especially  of  prolonged  energy  are 
rare  in  the  aged.  These  changes  are  most  conspicu- 
ous, and  probably  most  common,  in  the  gray  matter. 
The  gray  cells  break  down  and  must  be  renewed. 
The  white  matter,  whose  function  is  limited  to  trans- 
mitting a  form  of  molecular  motion,  shows  no  such 
palpable  changes.  We  are  not  to  conclude  that 
nervous  waste  does  not  occur  because  it  is  not 
as  apparent  as  that  of  muscle  or  fat;  nor  may  a 
stimulant  be  substituted  for  nourishment  and  rest. 
As  well  overcome  fatigue  in  a  tired  horse  by  whip 
and  spur,  rather  than  by  oats  and  repose,.  Nervous 
tissue    expended    by    work,    study^    or    worry    must 


48  Personal  Hygiene 

be  restored   by  rest   and    nourishment   and  by  these 
alone. 

The  second  lesson  to  remember  is  the  inherent 
tendency  of  nervous  action  to  repeat  itself.  We  are 
j^  liable  to  overlook  habit  as  an  essential  at- 

action_re=  tribute  of  all  phases  of  the  nervous  system. 
The  facility  v^ith  which  complicated  mus- 
cular movements,  as  swimming  or  the  use  of  musical 
instruments,  are  resumed  after  years  of  inaction 
illustrates  one  aspect.  Excepting  as  barred  by  the 
weakness  or  stiffness  inciJental  to  disease  or  age,  the 
muscles  respond,  perhaps  not  as  vigorously  but,  as 
perfectly  as  formerly;  for  the  nervous  messages  flow 
as  readily  as  in  boyhood.  So  there  are  tricks  of  physical 
expression,  peculiarities  of  gait  or  of  speech  that  we 
truly  say  have  grown  upon  one.  They  begi  in  early 
life,  continue  as  a  habit,  develop  into  a  characteristic. 
Among  these  may  be  eccentricities  or  provincialisms  of 
language  which,  carefully  guarded  against  ordinarily, 
reappear  under  excitement  in  the  grammatical  errors 
or  local  idioms  of  an  illiterate  youth.  That  is,  the  old 
nervous  paths  once  worn  are  not  barred,  much  less 
destroyed.  New  ones  may  have  been  laid  out,  but 
the  old  ones  remain  ready  for  the  nervous  flow  to 
follow  the  familiar  channels.  Paths  of  conduction 
become,  through  frequent  use,  particularly  adapted 
for  the  passage  of  emotions  and  thoughts  as  well  as  of 
mechanical  and  simpler  habits.  It  is  especially  to  be 
remembered  that  there  is  not  merely  a  facility  but  a 
tendency  for  individual  thoughts  and  for  groups  and 


The  Nervous  System  49 

classes  of  thoughts  to  repeat  themselves  and  to  generate 
others  like  them.  "As  a  man  thinketh,  so  he  is," 
is  a  solid  and  fundamental  fact,  and  Personal  Hygiene, 
while  chiefly  concerned  with  the  body,  also  touches  the 
mind  whose  servant  the  body  is.  The  late  Professor 
Martin,  of  Johns  Hopkins,  felicitously  said:*  "The 
higher  nerve-centres  are  eminently  plastic;  it  is  that 
which  marks  them  out  for  a  far  higher  utility  and 
gieater  adaptation  to  the  varying  experiences  of  indi- 
vidual life  than  the  more  fixed  and  mechanical  lower 
centres."  But  he  adds:  "Every  thought  leaves  in 
[those  centres  of  intellection  and  emotion]  its  trace 
for  good  or  ill;  and  the  moral  truism  that  .  .  .  the 
more  often  an  evil  solicitation  ...  has  resulted  in  a 
wrorg  act  .  .  .  has  its  parallel  (and  we  can  hardly 
doubt  its  physical  antecedent)  in  the  marking  out  of  a 
path  of  easier  conduction  from  perception  to  volitional 
emotion  in  the  brain."  "On  the  other  hand  every 
right  action  helps  to  establish  '  a  path  of  least  resistance  ' 
and  makes  its  subsequent  performance  easier.'* 
Thoughts,  whether  high  intellectual  concepts  or  based 
on  appeals  of  passion,  follow  each  other  over  the  old 
paths  with  increasing  facility.  That  is  true  of  morals 
and  mind  alike.  Perhaps  not  literally,  but  certainly 
in  effect,  "runways"  are  easily  established  in  the 
brain,  over  which  our  mental  processes  race  along  in 
preference  to  breaking  out  untrodden  routes.  New 
paths  arc  formed  under  compulsion;  old  ones  invite 
by  their  familiarity. 

*  The  Human  Body,  by  11.  N.  Martin,  p.  631,  et.  seq. 


'50  Personal  Hygiene 

Cerebral  action  is  accompanied  by  cerebral  change, 
for  nerve-cells  break  down  in  operation.  Without 
doubt  intellectual  and  emotional  operations  follow 
laws  like  those  that  govern  motor  functions.  As  the 
practised  nerves  of  an  acrobat  convey  at  once  the 
necessary  directions  to  his  muscles,  which  execute  with 
comparative  ease  a  new  feat  in  which  a  novice  would 
fail  disastrously,  so  the  skilled  mathematician  solves 
an  unfamiliar  problem  more  readily  than  a  man  of 
equal  but  untrained  mind.  Equally  a  roue  commits 
without  self-reproach  sins  from  which  a  neophyte 
would  shrink  in  dismay.  Obsta  frincipiis  applies  as 
well  to  ethics  as  to  mechanics,  to  modes  of  living 
as  to  a  leak  in  a  dike.  To  quote  Martin  again: 
"Association  of  movements  ...  finds  an  interesting 
parallel  in  .  .  .  the  association  of  ideas;  and  all  edu- 
cation is  largely  based  on  the  fact  that  the  more 
often  the  brain  regions  have  acted  together  the  more 
readily,  until  finally  almost  indissollibly,  do  they 
so  act."  The  plasticity  of  the  brain,  like  the  flexi- 
bility of  the  muscles,  inay  be  preserved  by  practice, 
but  disused  thought- centres  lose  both  pliancy  and 
force.  Nevertheless,  whatever  exercise  may  be  given 
the  brain,  the  time  will  come  when  habitual  thoughts 
of  former  years  will  recur  and  the  brain  be  haunted 
by  the  echoes,  if  not  by  the  renewed  calls,  of  those 
earlier  familiar  ideas.  If  they  are  exalted,  the  later 
years  will  be,  if  not  exhilarated,  at  least  serene.  If 
they  are  narrow  or  unhallowed,  the  prospect  will  be 
one  of   limitation    and  regret.     The    importance  of 


The  Nervous  System  ^t 

cultivating  clear  strains  and  broad  views  in  mental 
operations  cannot  be  exaggerated.  However  attrac- 
tive football  may  be,  it  is  not  the  summum  bonum;  and 
the  men  who  achieve  success  in  logical  debate  are 
at  least  as  likely  to  be  eminent  in  the  world  as  those 
who  acquire  their  numerals  on  the  track.  To  quote 
finally  from  Martin:  "The  brain  like  the  muscles  is 
improved  and  strengthened  by  exercise  and  injured  by 
overwork  and  idleness ;  and  just  as  a  man  may  specially 
develop  one  set  of  muscles  and  neglect  the  rest  until 
they  degenerate,  so  he  may  do  with  his  brain,  develop- 
ing one  set  of  intellectual  faculties  and  leaving  the 
rest  lie  fallow  until,  at  last,  he  almost  loses  the  power 
of  using  them  at  all."  It  is  a  part  of  merely  honest 
mental  hygiene  to  cultivate  the  mind  and  accumulate 
mental  resources  outside  of  a  selected  career.  The 
narrowest  specialty,  the  most  technical  study,  rests 
best  upon  a  broad  base ;  nor  should  the  habit  of  looking 
at  a  subject  from  every  angle  be  neglected.  Neither 
should  one  wander  so  far  into  so-called  general  reading 
that  nothing  is  thoroughly  learned  and  the  end  is 
illogical  thinking  and  mental  slovenliness. 


VI 

The  Contents  of  the  Abdomen 

'TpHE  organs  below  the  diaphragm  are  those  engaged 

in  digestion,  the  transformation  of  food  into  the 

living  body   or  assimilation,   and   the  elimination   of 

waste.     This  general  region  is  the  abdomen  or  belly. 

Its  best  recognized  content  is  the  stomach, 
Abdomen        ,  .  ,    .  ... 

which  m  common  speech  gives  its  name  to 

the  whole.  This  is  illustrated  in  the  popular  sacrifice 
of  accuracy  to  imaginary  elegance  of  expression  in 
such  a  phrase  as  "stomach-ache,"  for  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent condition.  The  stomach  proper  is  a  hollow, 
extensible,  muscular  organ  lying  directly  under  and 
touching  the  diaphragm.     Its  fibres   run  in  various 

directions,   assuring  a  complicated  motion 
Stomach      ,        ,    .  .  .  »      ^      , 

by  their  successive   contraction.     As  food, 

the  stomach  of  the  lower  aniinals  is  known  as  tripe. 
When  moderately  full  the  adult  human  stomach  has 
a  capacity  of  about  three  pints,  but  under  gorman- 
dizing or  disease  it  may  be  much  dilated.  Digestion 
is  the  process  of  preparing  food  for  assimilation,  and 
the  digestive  apparatus  begins  with  the  mouth.  From 
the  mouth  the  food  passes  down  the  gullet  (oesophagus) 

52 


The  Contents  of  the  Abdomen       53 

into  this  sack,  the  stomach.     Beyond  the  stomach  the 

digestive  tube  is  continued  by  the  small  intestine  and 

is  completed  in  the  large  intestine.     The   ,   .     ,. 

^        .  '^  .  .  Intestines 

small  intestine,  so  called  from  its  calibre, 

varies  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  feet  in  length  and  lies 
coiled  in  the  middle  of  the  abdomen.  The  large  intes- 
tine, also  named  from  its  calibre,  is  several  times  the 
diameter  of  the  former  but  is  only  about  five  feet  long. 
It  lies  in  a  single  large  coil  on  the  outer  border  of  the 
assembled  small  intestine.  Its  greater  length  is  the 
colon,  along  the  upper  and  left  border,  the  seat  of 
the  colic.  The  last  eight  or  ten  inches,  comparatively 
straight,  is  the  rectum,  which  terminates  at  the  anus. 
The  two  extremities  of  the  digestive  canal,  the  mouth 
and  the  anus,  are  sphincters — ^purse-like  muscles  not 
directly  attached  to  bone.  At  the  junction  of  the 
\arge  and  small  intestines  is  a  bulge  or  enlargement, 
the  coecum,  about  three  inches  in  length.  Vermiform 
from  which  the  well-named  vermiform  ^PP^n^ix 
appendix  proceeds.  The  appendix,  closed  at  the 
lower  end,  is  from  three  to  five  inches  in  length  and 
about  as  large  around  as  the  stem  of  a  clay  pipe. 
Its  wall,  like  that  of  the  rest  of  the  intestine,  is  not 
much  thicker  than  fairly  stout  paper.  The  appendix 
is  conspicuously  known  from  its  condition  in  disease 
rather  than  in  health,  due  to  accuracy  in  diagnosis 
and  the  wonderful  possibilities  of  aseptic  surgery. 
Appendicitis  was  formerly  lost  in  the  general  designa- 
tion of  inflammation  of  the  bowels,  a  condition  that 
almost  invariably  proceeded  unchecked  to  a  fatal  endj 


54  Personal  Hygiene 

for  operations  which  now  are  done  successfully  every 
day,  not  many  years  ago  would  have  been  homicidal. 
The  appendix  *  is  not  a  catch-all  for  the  collection  of 
grape-seeds,  cherry-stones  and  the  like,  with  consequent 
inflammation.  Although  it  occasionally  occurs,  the 
detention  of  foreign  bodies  there  is  so  rare  as  to  be 
negligible.  It  is  not  yet  practicable  to  assign  a  general 
cause  for  appendicitis,  but  although  not  demonstrable 
at  this  time,  it  seems  probable  that  habitual  constipa- 
tion with  bacterial  action  depending  thereupon  may 
induce  the  condition.  Practically  if  the  bowels  are 
kept  fairly  regular,  it  is  not  worth  while  to  anticipate 
the  introduction  of  a  foreign  body  or  the  spontaneous 
development  of  inflammation. 

Directly  below  the  diaphragm  on  the  right  side  and 
in  front,  extending  from  the  fifth  to  the  tenth  rib,  is 
the  liver,  the  largest  single  organ  in  the 
body.  Its  weight  is  a  trifle  over  three  pounds. 
It  consists  of  innumerable  lobules  the  size  of  a  pin's 
head  (one- twelfth  inch),  themselves  composed  of  cells 
completely  enveloped  in  capillaries.  This  organ  has 
a  special  and  important  circulation  of  its  own,  not 
necessary  to  be  described  here ;  but  any  organ  so  large 
and  so  full  of  blood,  whether,  as  formerly  supposed, 
the  seat  of  sentiment  or  not,  is  necessarily  of  conse- 


*  Some  authorities  regard  the  appendix  as  a  purely  superfluous 
relic,  an  evolutionary  sign-post  of  the  past.  Others  look  upon  it  as 
a  lymphoid  organ,  of  positive  although  secondary  importance.  It  is 
found  only  in  the  higher  apes,  the  curious  marsupial  the  wombat, 
a  few  rodents,  and  man,  and  its  genealogy  is  not  well  made  out. 


The  Contents  of  the  Abdomen        55 

quence,  and  whatever  may  disturb  its  work  must 
damage  the  system  at  large.  All  the  blood  in  the 
body  passes  through  the  hepatic  (liver)  circulation 
and  is  modified  thereby  just  as  certainly,  although 
not  with  the  same  immediate  influence  upon  life,  as 
in  the  pulmonary  (lung)  circulation.  Various  secre- 
tions that  affect  the  digestion  of  food,  of  which  the 
best  known  is  the  bile,  form  in  the  liver.  In  the 
intervals  of  digestion  the  newly-formed  bile  collects 
in  the  gall-bladder,  a  small  reservoir  that  peeps  out 
under  the  front  edge  of  the  liver. 

To  the  left  of  the  middle  line  and  below  the  stomach 

is    the    pancreas,    which    in    food- animals 

1         1        rx^i  •  T        •         Pancreas 

IS  sweetbread.      This  secretes .  a   digestive 

fluid. 

Farther  to  the  left  is  the  spleen,  connected  with 
the  disintegration  of  the  blood -corpuscles  and  not  at 
all  with  digestion.     The  residents  of  mala- 
rious districts  know  it,  when  enlarged  and 
hardened  in  such  disease,  as  ague-cake.      An  earlier 
generation  seated  here  a  form  of  ill  temper. 

On  each  side  of  the  spine,  near  the  level  of  the 

last  rib,  is  a  reddish-brown,  "kidney-shaped,"  body. 

Each  of  these  is  about  4I X 2I X li  inches  in      ... 

,      ,  1  .  .  1  Kidneys 

Size  and  about  4  or  4J  ounces  m  weight. 

These  are  the  kidneys,  and  in  their  small  compass  are 

packed  half  a  million  capsules  and  fifteen  miles  of 

delicate   tubing,     All   the   blood   passes   through   the 

kidneys  sooner  or  later,  and  from  it  they  excrete  from 

two  and  a  half  to  five  pints  of  urine  daily. 


56  Personal  Hygiene 

Within  the  pelvis  and  well  to  the  front  in  the  middle 
line  is  the  bladder,  capable  normally  of  holding  rather 
Urinary  more  than  a  pint,  although  in  disease  it  is 
bladder  sometimes  distended  much  more.  The 
urine,  constantly  formed  but  irregular  in  amount, 
reaches  the  bladder  through  a  tube  from  each  kidney 
called  the  ureter. 

In  the  male  attached  to  the  lower  part  of  the  bladder 
are  two  small  very  irregularly- shaped  reservoirs,  the 
seminal  vesicles,  which  receive  the  semen  secreted  b}' 
the  testicles,  and  hold  it  preparatory  to  evacuation. 
Like  the  urine,  the  semen  is  constantly  forming 
(during  the  virile  period)  and,  also  like  the  urine, 
at  very  irregular  rates.  In  the  female  the  uterus,  or 
womb,  lies  behind  the  bladder,  and  after  conception 
the  child  developed  therein  passes  out  at  the  proper 
time  between  the  bones  of  the  floor  of  the  pelvis. 
Because  of  its  relation  to  that  phenomenon  the  normal 
female  pelvis  is  broad  and  roomy. 

All  the  organs  of  the  abdomen  have  now  been 
roughly  accounted  for. 


VII 

Digestion  and  the  Care  of  the  Digestive 
Apparatus 

T^IGESTION,  the  preparation  of  food  for  assimi- 
lation, like   all    vital    acts  requires  blood   and 
nervous  force.     Consequently  neither  severe  physical 

labor  nor  marked  mental  activity  should  be 

1  1         .  ,      ,        ,.  Digestion 

attempted  simultaneously  with   the  diges- 
tion of  a  heavy    meal.     But    in   a  vigorous    person  ■ 
neither  mental  nor  bodily  activity  should  interfere  with 
the   digestion   of   a   temperate   meal.     It   is   in   part 
because  of  its  demand  for  blood  and  nervous  force  that 
modern  life   has   unconsciously   placed    the   heaviest 
meal  at  the   close   of  the  day,   when  serious  drafts 
upon  the  system  are  not  likely  to  be  made.     But  where^ 
the  early  night  is  devoted  to  study,  care  should  be 
taken  that  the  last  meal  is  not  unduly  heavy.     Enough 
food  should  be  eaten,  but  it  should  be  digestible  in 
quality  and  not  excessive  in  amount. 

Digestion  begins  in  the  mouth,  and  the  mechanical 
subdivision  of  the  food  by  the  teeth  is  always  service- 
able.    With  some  classes  of  food  this  subdi-    Mastica- 
vision  determines  between  the  fact  and  the    *^'®" 
failure  of  digestion.     Cheese  is  a  conspicuous  illustra- 

57 


58  Personal  Hygiene 

tion  of  this.  Some  persons  to  whom  cheese  carelessly- 
eaten  is  entirely  indigestible,  assimilate  it  perfectly 
when  it  has  been  finely  subdivided  by  the  teeth.  As 
digestion  depends  upon  the  action  of  fluids  upon 
solids,  it  follows  that  the  more  extensive  the  surface  of 
any  particular  quantity  of  food  with  which  the  digestive 
fluids  come  in  contact,  the  more  readily  is  it  accom- 
plished; and  obviously  the  superficial  area  increases 
rapidly  as  the  fragment  is  divided.  A  reasonable  rec- 
ommendation has  been  made  (Dewey)  to  chew  solid 
food  while  any  taste  can  be  recognized.  Ordinarily  this 
requires  each  portion  to  be  acted  upon  from  twenty 
to  forty  times.  Besides  prolonging  the  gustatory 
pleasure  and  bringing  the  food  into  the  best  possible 
condition  for  digestion,  such  careful  treatment  satisfies 
the  appetite  more  readily  and  diminishes  the  amount 
consumed.  When  food  is  abundant  we  all  are  apt 
habitually  to  eat  too  much.  Three  consequences 
follow  compete  mastication.  Sapidity,  or  at  least 
the  recognition  of  sapidity,  is  increased;  swallowing 
is  facilitated;  and  one  variety  of  food  is  partly 
digested. 

Flavor  is  recognized  only  when  the  part  of  the  food 
next  to  the  nerves  of  taste  is  moist.  A  little  sugar  or 
salt  laid  upon  the  tongue  when  wiped  per- 
fectly dry  will  yield  no  taste.  As  embarrass- 
ment in  speaking,  to  use  a  minor  illustration,  may 
inhibit  oral  moisture  and  render  the  mouth  dry  and 
stiff,  so  the  act  of  swallowing  is  aided  by  a  copious 
flow    of    fluid.      But   saliva,   besides    having    these 


Digestion  and  the  Digestive  Apparatus   59 

mechanical    advantages,    is    a    digestive    fluid    which 
turns  starch  into   a  form  of   sugar  as  a   prerequisite 
to  further  digestion.      Starch  is  a  considerable  com- 
ponent    of    flour,    potatoes,    and    many   other  vege- 
tables, but   is  digested   with    difliculty,   if    at    all,   in 
that  form.     To  use  a   borrowed   illustration:  Starch 
mixed   with    cold   water   will    not   dissolve,  but  ulti- 
mately settles  as  wet  starch.     Starch  boiled  in  water 
will    partly   dissolve,    but    when  such    a    mixture   is 
placed   in  a  bag  of  several  thicknesses  of  fine  mus- 
lin,   the    water    will    leak    out    and     the    most    of 
the   starch   will   remain.      But    sugar    (or   salt)  will 
thoroughly   dissolve    in   hot    or    cold    water   and   the 
sugar    (or   salt)    in    solution    will    pass    through    the 
muslin  walls  as  freely  as  the  water  itself.     Now  some- 
thing very  like   this   occurs    in  the  alimentary  canal, 
the  wafls  of  whose  capillaries  will  not  absorb  starch 
suspended  in  water  but  will  readily  take  up  sugar  in 
solution. 

It  is  insufficient,  therefore,  for  the  starch  merely  to 
pass  through  the  mouth;  it  must  be  thoroughly  mixed 
with  the  saliva  in  order  that  advantage  may  be  taken 
of  its  sugar- making  quality.  When  starchy  food  is 
bolted,  as  with  iU-bred  or  over-driven  people,  nature 
happily  provides  a  supplementary  agent  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  small  intestine  to  complete,  or  to  replace, 
the  service  begun,  or  indeed  omitted,  in  the  mouth. 
But  it  puts  a  strain  on  those  glands  when  they 
are  called  upon  to  transform  the  starches  that  have 
passed  through  the    stomach    practically  as  so  much 


6o  Personal  Hygiene 

foreign  matter.  There  is  intestinal  indigestion  quite 
as  truly  as  gastric  indigestion,  and  one  form  of  it  is 
where  too  much  starchy  food  for  the  small  intes- 
tine to  treat  has  reached  the  bowel  unacted  upon. 
Malted  Various  malted  and  otherwise  predigested 
food  foods  are  advertised  to  assist  nature  pre- 

sumed to  be  delicate.  Malted  foods  have  had  at 
least  a  part  of  their  starch  artificially  transformed 
into  sugar.  Their  design  is  to  lighten  the  work  of  the 
digestive  fluids,  because  these  are  either  inefficient  in 
character  or  inadequate  in  amount  from  sickness  or 
undevelopment.  Or  else  they  are  open  aids  to  laziness 
in  eating,  artificial  props,  proxies,  or  substitutes,  that 
enable  a  man  to  slight  his  physiological  work.  They 
may  remind  students  of  contraband  ponies  on  which 
to  trot  swiftly  over  classical  highways,  instead  of 
depending  upon  honest  toil  on  foot  with  the  pilgrim's 
sandals  and  staff  of  grammar  and  lexicon,  make- 
shifts to  shame  vigorous  men — although  both  may 
lift  invalids  over  serious  difficulties.  The  repulsive 
habit  of  chewing  tobacco,  fortunately  rapidly  waning, 
wasted  large  amounts  of  saliva,  besides  having  other 
disadvantages.  Its  inane  successor,  the  chewing  of 
gum,  observable  in  a  certain  class,  is  also  happily 
going  out  of  vogue.  These  people  are  not  apt  to  be 
aggressively  offensive,  like  the  dischargers  of  tobacco- 
juice,  but  besides  the  repulsive  working  of  their  jaws 
they  waste  saliva;  for  saliva  is  wasted  when  swallowed 
without  food,  and  taken  in  excess  on  an  empty  stomach 
it  is  supposed  to  cause  irritation. 


Digestion  and  the  Digestive  Apparatus  6i 

The  ordinary  moisture  of  the  mouth  depends  less 

upon  the  saliva  than  on  the  watery  secretion  from  the 

numerous   glands   which   stud   its   surface,  _. ,    ^ 

.  .  ,  .  Thirst 

saliva  flowing  in  addition  when  food  is  pres- 
ent. The  sensation  ordinarily  confused  with  thirst  is  a 
superficial  dryness  of  the  fauces.  This  false  thirst, 
the  dryness  of  the  throat,  is  best  relieved  by  holding  in 
the  mouth  a  bit  of  wood,  a  pebble,  or  other  inedible 
substance.  On  the  track  gum  is  commonly  used  to 
induce  moisture,  but  gum  is  undesirable  for  prolonged 
work.  In  a  long  excursion,  a  march,  or  even  an 
extended  walk,  all  the  advantage  of  drinking  water 
will  be  secured  by  keeping  the  mouth  moist  in  just  that 
way.  An  experienced  soldier  on  the  march  will  keep 
a  pebble  in  his  mouth,  but  will  drink  nothing  after  the 
morning  meal  until  he  approaches  camp.  As  soon 
as  one  begins  to  drink  on  a  long  walk,  the  tempta- 
tion is  almost  irresistible  to  repeat  the  indulgence, 
often  at  great  inconvenience.  The  exception  is  that 
of  extreme  exertion  under  tropical  conditions,  when 
there  is  risk  that  excessive  perspiration  may  danger- 
ously increase  the  density  of  the  blood.  For  of  course 
the  perspiration,  like  the  choleraic  discharges,  is  ulti- 
mately derived  from  the  blood  itself.  Such  loss  of 
fluid  causes  true  thirst,  and  when  the  loss  is  excessive 
it  must  be  replaced.  True  thirst  therefore  depends 
upon  the  loss  of  the  watery  part  of  the  blood,  usually 
by  perspiration,  sometimes  from  intestinal  discharge 
(from  ordinary  diarrhoea  to  cholera),  occasionally  by 
haemorrhage.     This  can  only  be  relieved  by  drinking 


62  Personal  Hygiene 

more  water,  and  the  overpowering  thirst  of  a  bleeding 
man  depends  upon  that  drain.  To  supply  water  to 
a  man  who  has  lost  much  blood  not  only  relieves  his 
most  obvious  symptom,  the  distressing  thirst,  but  it 
partly  qualifies  the  vital  fluid  to  pursue  its  course 
more  easily.  It  is  always  proper  to  give  water  to  a 
man  who  has  lost  much  blood.  Alcohol  may  start  the 
bleeding  afresh,  water  ordinarily  will  not. 

Water  taken  into  an  empty  stomach  is  not  absorbed 
directly  through  the  walls,  but  is  spirted  in  small 
successive  jets  into  the  upper  part  of  the  small  intestine. 
Obviously  it  is  unwise  to  flood  the  empty  stomach  with 
water,  especially  with  ice-water,  that  escapes  slowly. 
On  the  other  hand  when  water  is  mixed  with  food, 
so  that  a  nutritious  solution  is  formed,  it  is  absorbed 
directly  and  rapidly  into  the  walls  of  the  stomach,  that 
is  into  the  capillaries  that  throng  them.  As  a  rule,  to 
which  there  may  be  exceptions,  there  is  little  risk  of 
diluting  the  gastric  juices,  as  is  popularly  taught, 
by  drinking  freely  with  meals  when  natural  desire 
prompts.  In  this  instance  the  natural  impulse  may 
safely  be  followed.  Curiously,  the  various  alcoholic 
beverages  are  absorbed  directly  and  rapidly  by  the 
stomach  itself. 

Food  enters  the  stomach  from  the  mouth  through  the 
oesophagus  (gullet),  down  which  it  is  not  shot  as  along 
SwalIow=  a  chute  nor  dropped  as  a  pile-driver.  It 
*"S  is  passed,  in  a  small  quantity  and  a  little 

way  at  a  time,  by  the  action  of  involuntary  muscles. 
This  is  clearly  seen  in  a  horse    drinking,  where  the 


Digestion  and  the  Digestive  Apparatus  63 

successive  gulps  may  be  observed  moving  along  the  ex- 
posed oesophagus,  usually  against  the  action  of  gravity. 
When  one  drinks  directly  from  a  spring  he  knows  that 
position  neither  retards  nor  assists  the  process.  The 
effort  to  transfer  a  morsel  of  food  somewhat  larger 
than  the  tube  conveniently  accommodates  makes  one 
.conscious  of  the  muscular  effort.  Conversely,  the 
real  difficulty  occasionally  found  in  swallowing  a 
pill  is  not  that  it  is  too  large  but  that  it  is  too  small 
to  be  grasped  readily  by  those  muscles;  and  the  remedy 
is,  to  increase  its  bulk  either  by  a  wrapper,  or  by  as- 
sociating it  with  a  swallow  of  water  or  a  bolus  of  food. 
In  the  presence  of  food  the  inner  surface  of  the 
stomach  changes  from  a  grayish  tint  to  a  bright  red, 
because  of  the  increased  flow  of  blood  in  Gastric 
the  capillaries;  and  a  thin,  colorless,  acid  digestion 
fluid,  the  gastric  juice,  begins  to  trickle  from  the 
glands  with  which  the  lining  of  the  stomach  is  thickly 
studded.  The  function  of  the  gastric  juice  is  to  act 
on  the  proteid  parts  of  food,  as  represented  by 
lean  meat,  white  of  egg,  cheese,  the  gluten  of  bread, 
etc.,  and  prepare  them  for  absorption  into  the  blood 
as  nutriment.  Obviously  it  is  reasonable  and  desir- 
able to  leave  moderate,  sometimes  long,  intervals  be- 
tween meals  so  that  the  gastric  glands  may  recover 
their  activity  before  being  again  drawn  upon.  One 
of  the  evils  of  civilization  and  the  abundant  food  that 
belongs  with  it  is  too  frequent  eating.  Many  indis- 
positions, some  quite  grave,  are  recovered  from  when 
the  meals  are  limited  to  two  a  day,  sometimes  to  one. 


64  Personal  Hygiene 

with  an  occasional  fast.  Persons  in  good  health  are 
not  rare  who  eat  little  or  nothing  between  a  noonday 
meal  and  breakfast  the  next  day,  or  who  omit  breakfast 
entirely.  But  active  children  may  properly  enough  eat 
small  quantities  of  nutritious  food  between  the  arbitrary 
hours  for  stated  meals,  and  youth  still  undergoing 
development  should  not  starve  themselves  either  in 
emulation  of  ascetic  saints  or  from  false  notions  of 
manly  limitations. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  physiology  of  gastric  digestion 
dates  from,  and  to  a  remarkable  degree  still  rests  upon, 
the  observations  and  experiments  between  1825  ^^^ 
1833  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont,  of  the  United  States 
0  .   Army,    upon    Alexis    St.     Martin,    where 

and  ^  advantage  was  taken  of  an  artificial  opening 
in  the  stomach  following  gunshot.  Too 
much  credit  cannot  be  awarded  Beaumont  for  the 
intelligent  use  that  he  made  of  a  unique  situation  in 
the  isolation  and  dulness  of  a  remote  post.  He  is  a 
great  man  who  recognizes  and  utilizes  an  important 
opportunity,  and  this  is  Beaumont's  warrant  to  scien- 
tific fame. 

As  the  food  gradually  becomes  digested,  it  passes  as 
chyme  into  the  intestines.  The  stomach  is  usually 
Intestinal  emptied  in  from  two  and  a  half  to  three 
digestion  ^^^  ^  Yyali  hours.  The  small  intestine  is 
lined  with  innumerable  small  glands,  devoted  to 
the  digestion  of  that  part  of  the  food  not  actea 
upon  by  the  stomach.  Immediately  on  its  entermg 
the  small  intest".::3  the  bile   and   the  pancreatic  juice 


Digestion  and  the  Digestive  Apparatus  65 

together  act  on  the  chyme.  One  of  the  services  of 
the  bile  is  to  reduce  the  fats  and  oils,  as  country 
house- wives  use  ox-gall  to  remove  grease-stains,  and 
the  pancreatic  juice  completes  the  action  of  the  saliva 
in  changing  starch  into  sugar.  It  also  supplements 
the  gastric  juice  in  dissolving  albuminous  material, 
and  it  acts  even  more  powerfully  than  the  bile  itself 
in  promoting  the  absorption  of  fats.  Digestion  is 
popularly  regarded  as  a  function  of  the  stomach 
alone;  but  practically  the  action  of  the  small  intes- 
tine upon  food  is  quite  as  valuable  as  that  of  the  larger 
organ.  The  completion  of  the  intestinal  digestion 
leaves  a  highly  nutritious  creamy  fluid,  known  as 
chyle.  This  is  directly  taken  up  by  capillary  vessels 
in  the  bowel  and  ultimately  enters  the  main  column 
of  the  blood. 

So  much  of  the  transformed  food  as  is  not  absorbed 
in  its  slow  progress  through  the  small  intestine  passes 

on  into  the  large  intestine,  where  the  ab-    -.„.       . 
°  '  Office  of 

sorption  is  completed  and  the  refuse  is  the  large 
brought  together  more  compactly.  This 
refuse  consists  of  indigestible  matter,  as  ligament  from 
animal  and  cellulose  from  vegetable  tissue;  undigested 
material,  as  fragments  of  flesh,  starch,  and  fat  which 
have  simply  escaped  digestion;  products  of  bacterial 
decomposition;  and  various  forms  of  body  waste, 
whose  names  are  not  important  here. 

If  for  any  reason  the  intestinal  contents  are  swept 
too  hastily  through  the  body,  proper  absorption  of 
nutritive  matter  cannot  occur;    if  they  are  too  much 


66  Personal  Hygiene 

delayed,  an  absorption  of  undesirable  products  may 

happen.     In  their  fresh  state  the  faeces  are  harmless, 

_  however    offensive  to  the    sense  of  smell: 

Faeces  .      i      i 

but  when   retamed    they  undergo  gradual 

change,  a  part  of  their  offensiveness  is  absorbed, 
and  their  general  repulsiveness  increases.  It  has 
been  explained  how  readily  the  capillaries  absorb 
gases,  as  in  the  lungs,  and  liquids,  as  in  the 
stomach  and  upper  bowels.  Now  "  when  organic 
matter  undergoes  decomposition  in  immediate  con- 
tact with  the  capillaries,  the  very  law  of  their  being 
requires  them  to  take  up  some  of  the  products.  Faecal 
matter  passed  daily  is  not  apt  to  be  dry,  but  after 
several  days'  delay  the  evacuations  are  hard  and 
compact.  The  normal  moisture  has  been  reabsorbed 
as  a  consequence    of  the  constipation. 

The  longer  such  waste  is  retained  within  the  body, 
the  more  easily  this  absorption  occurs ;  and  auto-intoxi- 
Auto=in=  cation  or  self-poisoning  is  the  necessary 
toxication  consequence  of  retaining  in  the  blood  mate- 
rial rejected  by  nature.  One  form  of  auto- intoxica- 
tion is  where  the  excretory  organs  fail  in  their  full 
work,  and  the  other  and  more  common  is  the  re- 
absorption  of  that  already  prepared  for  expulsion. 
This  is  an  ordinary  consequence  of  packing  the  lower 
bowel  with  successive  instalments  of  intestinal  waste. 
Constipa-  In  this  way  constipation  leads  to  greater  or 
tipn  jggg  physical  depression  which   sometimes 

induces  mild  feverishness,  dulness  of  thought,  commonly 
headache,   frequently   loss     of   appetite   and   general 


Digestion  and  the  Digestive  Apparatus  67 

languor,  and  occasionally  positive  illness  from  the 
system  becoming  loaded  with  emanations  that,  worse 
than  useless,  are  positively  harmful.  Well-defined 
differences  in  appetite,  in  clearness  of  thought,  and  in 
activity  of  body  are  easily  recognized  as  coinciding 
with  what  is  commonly  called  the  state  of  the 
bowels.  In  extreme  cases  the  absorption  of  these 
gases  gives  a  perceptible  odor  both  to  the  breath 
and  the  perspiration.  Fortunately  all  foul  breath  is 
not  due  to  this  cause,  although  it  is  not  unusual  in 
the  young.  Sedentary  people  are  apt  to  neglect 
these  functions,  and  youth  whose  attention  has  not 
been  directed  to  their  importance  often  act  as  though 
regular  habits  were  matters  of  no  consequence  com- 
pared with  mere  temporary  inconvenience.  They 
should  reflect  upon  what  such  procrastination  really 
implies. 

The  relatively  straight  lower- portion  of  the  bowel, 
the  rectum,  is  not  designed  as  a  carrier,  although  fre- 
quently transformed  into  such,  but  merely       „    ^ 

•    1  T  11       1  Rectum 

as  a  discharger  of  waste.      Normally  the 

rectum  is  empty  until  just  before  evacuation.  Prop- 
erly the  waste  gradually  passes  along  the  large  intes- 
tine to  a  curved  portion  within  the  pelvis.  In  health 
this  is  passed  at  stated  intervals  into  the  rectum,  where 
desire  for  relief  immediately  occurs  and,  unless  it  is 
antagonized  by  the  will,  this  will  be  effected  by  reflex 
action.  When  the  desire  is  effectually  resisted,  the 
contents  lie  there  packed  more  and  more  tightly  with 
every  accession,  so  that  in  extreme  cases  the  damming 


68  Personal  Hygiene 

leads  to  an  accumulation  far  up  within  the  colon. 
Under  such  conditions  the  rectum  becomes  diverted 
from  its  function  as  a  temporary  reservoir  into  that 
of  one  of  more  or  less  permanence,  a  condition  for 
which  there  is  no  excuse.  Although  with  the  body 
as  with  the  mind  bad  habits  form  more  readily  than 
good  ones,  care  easily  determines  our  physical  usages, 
especially  in  youth.  To  visit  the  closet  at  a  fixed 
hour  regardless  of  immediate  inclination  soon  leads 
to  periodical  desire.  To  press  or  knead  the  abdomen 
along  the  line  of  the  colon,  from  right  to  left,  aids. 
Corn  bread,  chocolate,  dates,  prunes,  figs,  and,  gener-, 
ally  speaking,  fresh  fruit,  assist  in  overcoming  the 
habit  of  costiveness.  Medicine  should  be  reserved 
until  advised  professionally,  and  reliance  upon  physi- 
ology is  better  than  upon  pills.  Indeed  the  use  of 
proprietary  preparations  is  a  prolific  ultimate  cause 
of  the  evil  they  are  taken  to  avoid.  However,  a  few 
leaves  of  senna  chewed  thoroughly  from  time  to  time 
are  frequently  useful.  Morning  is  better  than  night 
as  the  season  to  attend  to  this  function,  but  whenever 
felt  the  reflex  impulse  should  not  be  restrained,  although 
the  habit  may  be  gradually  regulated.  For  physiolog- 
ical reasons  a  loaded  rectum  should  be  evacuated  at 
night  in  preference  to  further  delay. 

Besides  leading  to  general  depression,  habitual  con- 
stipation is  the  efficient  cause  of  the  distressing  local 
complaint  of  piles,  or  haemorrhoids,  whose 
essence    is    the    engorgement    and    partial 
rupture  of  rectal  veins.    These  veins  have  no  valves 


Digestion  and  the  Digestive  Apparatus  69 

to  check  the  tendency  of  the  blood  to  stagnate  near 
the  bottom,  so  that  when  the  flow  toward  the  body 
is  impeded  it  is  Hable  to  congest  near  the  anus.  As 
the  venous  flow  is  progressively  interfered  with  one 
or  more  small  veins  are  choked,  the  inner  coat  tears, 
the  outer  coat  stretches,  and  a  grape-like  enlarge- 
ment, the  pile,  occurs.  Piles  give  rise  to  a  sense  of 
weight  and  heat,  they  are  prone  to  protrude,  and 
usually  they  are  very  sensitive.  ,  Sometimes  by  fur- 
ther rupture  they  bleed  freely  When  inflamed  they 
are  exquisitely  tender  and  quite  disqualify  for  active 
work,  and  even  when  not  inflamed  they  cause  con- 
stant discomfort.  Contributing  causes  in  youth  are  a 
sedentary  life,  the  use  of  soft  cushions,  highly  spiced 
food,  which  has  a  peculiar  tendency  to  lead  these 
veins  to  fulness,  and  in  later  years  congestion  of  the 
liver  affects  the  rectum  through  a  peculiarity  of  the 
local  circulation.  Life  in  the  saddle,  the  very  oppo- 
site of  the  sedentary  life,  especially  when  combined 
with  constipation,  also  tends  to  piles;  but,  although 
ever  threatening  the  cavalryman,  it  is  essentially  a 
disease  of  the  careless  student. 

Fissure  is  a  very  painful  crack  or  tearing  in  one  of 
the  many  folds  of  the  anus.     It  is  usually  traceable 

to    the    expulsion    of    large    hard    masses        „ 

,     ,  ...  .     ,     ,  Fissure 

created     by    constipation,    is    particularly 

sensitive,  and  is  very  difficult  to  heal.  As  with  piles, 
it  is  much  more  easily  avoided  than  cured,  and  the 
old  injunction  Ohsta  principiis  applies  to  no  physical 
error  more  directly  than  to  these. 


70  Personal  Hygiene 

As  previously  suggested,  it  seems  probable,  although 
not  proven,  that  habitual  constipation  predisposes  to 
Appendix  appendicitis.  Not  that  the  large  intestine 
citis  jg  gQ  loaded  with  unexpelled  waste  that  it 

finally  directly  excites  inflammation  there;  but  it  seems 
probable  that  the  retention  of  refuse  so  congests  the 
capillary  and  other  circulation  of  the  bowel  as  by 
degrees  to  cause  a  puffiness  or  engorgement  of  the 
small-calibre  appendix,  and  so  open  the  way  for  the 
local  attack.  The  general  lesson  certainly  is,  by 
attention  to  this  function  of  relief  to  keep  both  the 
brain  and  the  lower  viscera  free  from  fulness  of  sen- 
sation and  sluggishness  of  action. 

The  teeth,  at  the  actual  beginning  of  the  alimen- 
tary canal,  are  the  only  parts  of  the  human  organism 

^     .  which,    when    broken,    nature    makes    no 

Teeth  ,       ,  ,  . 

attempt    to    restore    and    whose    decay    is 

always  progressive.  When  damaged,  they  must  be 
repaired  or  replaced  by  art.  But  decay,  practically 
always  due  to  bacteria,  is  preventable.  Bacteria  are 
microscopical  vegetable  organisms  upon  whose  action 
many  vital  processes  depend  and  against  which  anti- 
septics are  directed.  They  are  always  present  in  the 
mouth  and  thrive  particularly  in  that  ropy  saliva 
which  clings  tenaciously  to  the  teeth,  especially  in 
those  who  sleep  with  the  mouth  open.  They  are  more 
abundant  when  the  brush  is  neglected.  They  abound 
where  the  remains  of  food,  especially  starchy  food, 
stick  to  the  teeth.  Their  mischief  is  done  by  the 
formation  of  an  acid  which  eats  away  the  enamel  and 


Digestion  and  the  Digestive  Apparatus  71 

then  leads  to  interior  decay.  Careful  brushing  and  wash- 
ing the  mouth  with  plain  water  will  rid  it  of  92  %  of  the 
bacteria,  which  will  then  increase  very  slowly  until  food 
is  taken  again.  But  two  hours  after  eating  a  piece  of 
fresh  bread  or  a  cracker  ,the  mouth  will  swarm  with 
them,  and  in  four  hours  the  normally  alkaline  reac- 
tion of  the  saliva  will  be  acid  from  their  multiplication 
where  food  has  lodged.  Cracking  the  enamel  in  the 
abuse  of  the  teeth  by  biting  hard  substances  opens 
the  way  for  bacteria,  and  wounds  of  the  gum  by  tooth- 
picks and  bristles  sometimes  give  them  access.  When 
they  are  in  undisturbed  possession,  the  teeth  are 
pretty  sure  to  decay.  It  is  probably  true  that  the 
local  use  of  tobacco  by  chewing  sterilizes  the  mouth 
and  thus  conserves  the  teeth,  but  the  abuse  of  tobacco 
is  believed  to  harm  the  teeth.  It  is  not  probable  that 
gases  from  the  fermentation  of  imperfectly  digested 
food  have  any  material  direct  action  upon  the  teeth, 
for  there  is  no  constantly  open  channel  from  the 
stomach  to  the  mouth.  It  is  doubtful  whether  eating 
a  reasonable  amount  of  sugar  tends  to  decay  the 
teeth,  as  vulgarly  believed.  Sugar  in  excess  diminishes 
the  appetite  for  the  time,  but  certainly  in  cake,  so  far 
as  the  teeth  are  concerned,  the  flour  is  much  worse 
than  the  sugar,  and  candy  cannot  be  compared  for 
mischief  to  the  remains  of  bread  in  an  uncleansed 
mouth.  Those  who  eat  food  difficult  of  mastication, 
as  most  savage  nations,  usually  have  sound  teeth  from 
the  inevitable  polishing  they  undergo.  The  advance 
in  modern  dentistry  is  doubtless  due  to  the  necessity 


72  Personal  Hygiene 

imposed  by  dental  deterioration.  The  interdependence 
of  the  entire  organism  upon  the  normal  condition  of 
all  its  parts  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  children 
with  sound  well-cared-for  teeth  are  not  only  heavier 
than  children  of  the  same  age  whose  teeth  are  dis- 
eased, but  mentally  they  are  at  least  half  a  year  in 
advance  of  them.  However,  this  may  merely  mean 
that  the  care  of  the  teeth  is  an  index  of  geni.ine  cultiva- 
tion. With  those  who  have  reached  years  of  discretion 
uncleansed  teeth  are  a  fair  sign  of  a  polluted  person, 
of  one  unacceptable  socially  or  physically. 

To  maintain  the  teeth  in  good  condition  requires 
the  careful  use  of  a  soft  pick,  if  they  are  irregular; 
Care  of  passing  floss-silk  between  them  so  as  not 
the  teeth  ^^  ^.^^  ^]^g  gum,  several  times  a  week ;  the 
careful  use  of  a  soft  brush,  which  should  be  discarded 
when  the  bristles  loosen,  after  each  meal  and  on  rising 
and  retiring.  The  most  useful  powder  is  probably 
prepared  chalk  or  simply  baking-soda  (sodium  bicar- 
bonate). Teeth  are  best,  but  not  most  easily,  brushed 
toward  the  crown,  not  transversely.  When  not  readily 
kept  in  good  condition  they  should  be  polished,  not 
filed  nor  scraped,  by  a  competent  dentist  every  two 
or  three  months.* 

The  care  of  the  teeth  has  more  than  an  aesthetic, 
or  indeed  a  simply  digestive,  value.  Through  reflex 
action  decayed  teeth  sometimes  disastrously  affect   or- 

*  For  much  of  the  section  on  the  teeth  credit  is  due  to  Dr.  S.  A. 
Hopkins's  very  excellent  essay  on  The  Care  of  the  Teeth. 


Digestion  and  the  Digestive  Apparatus  73 

gans  of  special  sense.  Deafness  has  been  traced  to 
disturbance  of  the  auditory  nerve  through  Reflex 
other  nerves  connected  with  damaged  dec'aye/^'" 
teeth,  and  complete  loss  of  vision  has  fol-  teeth 
lowed  the  unsuspected  and  painless  reflex  action 
from  decayed  roots,  sight  returning  on  their  removal. 
Such  conditions  are  very  infrequent,  but  they  war- 
rant careful  search  for  this  possible  disturbing  ele- 
ment when  all  the  usual  causes  of  functional  dis- 
ability have  been  rejected. 


VIII 

The  Development  and  Care  of  the  Body 

'nr^HE  preservation  and  development  of  the  normal 
physical  vigor  which  in  varying  degrees  is  the 
heritage  of  youth,  and  not  the  athletic  distinction  that 
in  the  nature  of  the  case  can  be  attained  by  few, 
should  be  the  chief  object  of  physical  culture  by 
those    in    pursuit    of    intellectual    superiority.     The 

„  .  primary  object  of  all  exercise  is  to  secure 
Exercise  ... 

vs.  or  maintain   physical   and    mental   health; 

s  reng  ^^^  ^^  acquire  strength,  which  in  a  reason- 
able degree  follows  incidentally.  Excessive  strength 
is  undesirable,  except  as  means  to  some  special  end; 
and  such  end  is  not  among  those  which  an  institution 
ot  learning  has  in  view  or  which  its  graduates  will 
require  in  their  vocations.  Abnormal  strength  is 
frequently  accompanied  by  physical  limitations,  for 
masses  of  muscle  impede  freedom  of  movement. 
There  is  liability  for  over-developed  muscle  to  take  on 
partial  fatty  degeneration  when  allowed  to  return  to 
the    normal    too    suddenly,    on    which    account    even 

74 


Development  and  Care  of  the  Body  75 

legitimate  training,  if  severe,  should  not  be  abruptly 
"broken."  Universal  experience  confirms  the  adage 
that  a  healthy  mind  depends  on  a  healthy  body,  and 
to  maintain  the  health  of  the  body  requires  the  free 
and  frequent  exertion  of  all  its  parts.  Vigor  cannot 
be  secured  merely  by  systematic  exercise  to  the  neg- 
lect of  other  physical  duties,  but  neither  object  of 
may  exercise  be  neglected  by  those  who  exercise 
w^ould  reach  reasonable  development  and  maintain 
fair  health.  An  admirable  discussion  of  this 
special  subject  is  contained  in  Benson  and  Miles's 
"Daily  Training,"  a  little  volume  from  which  much 
of  this  section  is  adapted  with  frank  acknowledgment. 
The  training  best  adapted  for  students  are  exercises 
which  lead  to  skill,  to  endurance,  perhaps  to  speed,  and 
only  incidentally  to  strength.  They  most  efficiently  edu- 
cate the  nerves  and  develop  promptitude  and  quickness 
of  apprehension  as  well  as  of  motion.  They  are  better 
practised  in  the  form  of  games,  or  at  least  in  company, 
and  should  call  into  play  the  whole  body;  for  these 
encourage,  along  with  the  physical  qualities,  the 
moral  ones  of  courage  and  perseverance  which  come 
from  confidence,  and  of  self-control  and  courtesy, 
the  attributes  of  a  gentleman.  Such  ends  are  quite 
worthy  of  steadfast  effort,  independently  of  the 
pleasure  of  the  games  themselves.  Exercises  of 
quickness,  or  even  of  endurance,  do  not  necessarily 
add  to  the  bulk  of  a  muscle.  Each  effort  may  re- 
quire only  very  slight  exertion  of  the  individual  muscle, 
but  the  sum  of  the  whole  may  exceed  the  force  involved 


76  Personal  Hygiene 

in  great  feats  of  strength.  Besides,  it  is  quite  possi- 
ble that  a  muscle  of  fine  quality  may  excel  a  coarse 
one  of  greater  bulk.  Doubtless  the  essential  power 
of  a  muscle  is  improved  by  training,  but  we  also 
find  that  a  trained  man  can  use  all  the  appropriate 
muscles,  when  the  untrained  man  depends  upon  a  few. 
Thus  a  powerful  man  without  skill,  will  go  down 
before  a  trained  lightweight.  The  light  but  agile 
man  strikes  with  all  his  disposable  force  at  the  exact 
point  required.  It  is  neither  expedient  nor  possible 
to  attempt  training  all  the  muscles  equally,  and  if  it 
were  possible  endurance  would  suffer.  The  most 
Methods  practical  rule  is  to  select  a  game  for  which 
of  exercise  lY^^^e  is  aptitude,  or  at  least  predilection, 
and  steadily  practise  it  and  supplementary  exercises. 
To  maintain  efficient  health  under  the  conditions  of  col- 
lege life  requires  about  two  hours'  active  exercise  daily. 
This  is  represented  by  a  brisk  walk  of  six  or  seven 
miles,  or  by  its  physical  equivalent.  Such  exercises 
are  much  better  taken  in  company,  for  ignoring  that 
it  is  exercise  adds  to  the  efficacy.  That  is  a  reason 
why  games  are  more  effective  for  health  than  solitary 
walks  or  than  merely  routine  work,  as  with  dumb- 
bells or  clubs — although  these  are  much  better  than 
none. 

Games  in  this  sense  are  not  those  great  contests 
that  degenerate  into  a  spectacle,  participated  in  only 
by  small  select  teams.  Football,  for  example,  is 
only  of  service  for  the  elect,  the  qualified  few  whose 
growth,  weight,   and  force  fit  them  for  the   arena. 


Development  and  Care  of  the  Body  jj 

There  is  no  saving  grace  in  assisting  at  football,  or 

baseball,    by  holding  down  the  bleachers,       _    _    .. 
rx.,         1  1  .1,  Football 

The  lungs  may  be  occasionally  ex- 
panded, but  one  should  not  be  deluded  into  fancy- 
ing that  to  be  exercise.  The  older  and  better  foot- 
ball, for  the  greater  good  of  the  greater  number,  as 
played  before  the  Rugby  importation,  involves  the 
lining  up  on  opposing  sides,  with  a  captain  for  each, 
of  an  indefinite  number  of  players  who  run  and  kick 
the  ball  as  opportunity  permits,  but  who  are  penalized 
for  touching  it  otherwise  than  by  the  foot.*  Oppor- 
tunity is  given  to  the  many.  The  guarantee  against 
contingent  roughness  lies  in  the  breeding  and  self- 
control  of  the  players.  It  is  not  a  game  for  roughs, 
but  it  is  fit  for  students — and  other  gentlemen.  Even 
under  the  temptations  of  the  Rugby  game,  no  college 
with  traditions  of  manly  honor  can  afford  to  violate 
with  intention  the  Golden  Rule,  one  of  the  bases  of 
good  breeding,  or  to  condone  errors  invited  by  the  im- 
petuosity of  the  contest. 

An  admirable  game,  better  known  under  its  modi- 
fication into  the  team-game  of  hockey,  is  shinny.  It 
may  be  played  on  any  moderately  level, 
unobstructed,  field  by  a  few  men  or  a 
hundred.  It  gives  full  play  to  arms  and  legs,  lungs 
and  back.  Like  other  games  of  multitude  it  may 
be  made  rough  and  dangerous,  but  it  is  not  essen- 
tially such. 

*  Association  Ball  is  a  modification  of  this. 


78  Personal  Hygiene 

Except  that  it  consumes  more  time  with  less  projBt 
than  the  average  student  can  spare,  and  incidentally 
it  may  be  costly,  golf  is  a  wholesome  game 
that  must  be  played  out  of  doors.  The 
essential  advantage  of  golf  is  that  the  skill  required 
tempts  to  gentle  and  prolonged  exercise  in  the  open 
air  persons,  usually  not  well  adapted  to  strenuous 
contests,  who  might  otherwise  be  indisposed  to  leave 
their  studies — or  their  clubs.  It  gives  to  a  long  walk 
an  immediate  interest,  with  occasional  exercise  of  the 
upper  extremities  and  some  cultivation  of  the  eye 
and  control  of  audible  emotion.  But,  like  whist,  it 
is  best  suited  for  men  to  whom  excitement  and  acute 
energy  are  past  pleasures.  Women  who  will  not 
walk  for  the  sake  of  walking  may  better  substitute 
the  tee  of  the  links  for  that  of  the  drawing-room,  but 
in  the  hands  of  vigorous  young  men  the  golf- club  is 
no  equivalent  for  the  saddle,  the  racket,  the  bat,  or  a 
dozen  other  agents  for  the  exhibition  of  vital  activity 
and  strength. 

Cricket,  an  exotic  that  has  never  taken  wide  root 

on  our  soil,  lacks  many  of  the  qualities  of  a  good 

game,    chiefly   because    of   the   long   waits 

before  going   to   the  bat   and   the   limited 

number  actively  engaged. 

Fencing,  single-stick,  the  broadsword,  and  sparring, 
when  the  latter  is  not  carried  to  extremes,  are  ad- 
Fencing,  mirable.  For  many  reasons  every  man 
^^^'  should  be  qualified  to  defend  himself  with 

the    equipment    of   nature,    wherein    skill    in    boxing 


Development  and  Care  of  the  Body  79 

transcends    the    mere    question    of    exercise.     Active 

practice    with    a    punching-bag    beautifully    develops 

agility  and,   within  limits,   chest  expansion  and   the 

general  strength. 

La  Crosse,  although  limited  to  teams  and  liable  to 

abuse,  does  not  require  weight  and  is  free  from  the 

roughness  so  nearly  associated  with  the  Eng- 

,.  .  .  ^      La  Crosse 

lish  football.     It  is  graceful  and  vigorous, 

deserving  much  greater  vogue  as  a  game  for  the  open 

than  it  has  acquired  south  of  the  Canadian  border. 

Basket-ball,  played  by  gentlemen,  is  a  fine  gym- 
nasium game,  again  with  the  disadvantage  Basket^ 
of  drifting  into  one  only  for  expert  teams.         ''^" 

Tennis  is  the  queen  of  games.  It  may  be  played 
gently  or  vigorously,  it  exercises  all  the  muscles  ex- 
cept possibly  those  of  the  left  upper  ex- 
tremity,  it  cultivates  the  group  of  quali- 
ties known  as  "eye" — that  is,  accuracy,  promptness, 
and  agility — and  it  should  encourage  good  temper  and 
courtesy. 

Boating  not  carried  to  an  extreme  is  valuable  exer- 
cise for  the  arms,  the  legs,  the  back,  the  lungs,  and 

the  heart.     But  that  means  neither  racing 

,  .        T^      .  Boating 

nor  any  approach  to  it.     Racing  or  severe 

training  may  hurt  the  lungs  and  is  almost  sure  to 
damage  the  immature  heart.  Physiologically  it  is 
more  than  unwise;  it  is  wrong.  A  college  crew  is  an 
expensive  luxury 

Swimming  has  a  double  value,  and  every  man  owes 
it  to  himself  to  learn  to  swim  and  to  keep  in  practice, 


8o  Personal  Hygiene 

although  fortunately  once  acquired   swimming  never 

^    .       .      becomes  a  lost   art.      Occasional  practice 
Swimming  .  '■ 

when   completely  dressed  is  valuable,  less 

for  hygienic  purposes  than  to  qualify  for  rescue. 

Exercise  may  be  defined  as  movements  of  the  muscles 
sufficient   to   contract   them   energetically.     Its   usual 

_        .         effects  are  increase  in  the  size  and  power 
Exercise  ^ 

of  the  voluntary  muscles  and  of  the  func- 
tional capacity  of  the  involuntary  muscles  involved,  and 
health  and  general  vigor  are  promoted  by  its  increasing 
respiration  and  quickening  the  circulation.  After 
attaining  their  full  size  muscles  cease  to  grow,  but 
exercise  cultivates  their  higher  functions.  It  should 
never  be  forgotten  that  walking  for  exercise,  as  an 
example,  to  be  effectual  must  be  brisk,  not  mere 
saunteringw  For  instance,  in  walking  four  miles  an 
hour  the  lungs  inhale  five  times  as  much  air  and  of 
course  five  times  as  much  oxgyen  as  in  repose.  That 
oxygen  taken  up  in  the  blood  goes  to  the  removal 
of  tissues  and  compels  the  carbon  dioxide,  formed 
by  their  disintegration,  to  make  way  for  it.  Thus 
following  the  quickened  circulation  exercise  hastens 
repair  by  the  more  rapid  interchange  of  the  primary 
cells  through  waste  and  assimilation. 

The  physiological  advantages  of  exercise  as  ob- 
served and  summed  up  by  Dr.  Beyer,  U.  S,  Navy,  are 
Advantages  these:  An  immediate  subjective  feeling  of 
of  exercise  general  well-being.  While  the  supply  of 
those  substances  in  which  energy  is  stored  equals  the 
demand  and  before  breathlessness  limits  it,  there  is 


Development  and  Care  of  the  Body  8 1 

exhilaration.  We  sleep  better  and  think  more  clearly 
and  move  quickly;  our  senses  are  more  acute;  the 
skin  and  the  kidneys,  the  special  excretory  agents,  act 
better;  digestion  and  assimilation  are  improved;  the 
lungs  expand  better,  and  the  heart  contracts  more 
strongly  from  the  increase  of  blood  pressure,  and  all 
the  muscles  contract  more  quickly  and  effectively. 
The  "warming  up"  of  animals  and  men  on  the  race- 
track and  in  the  athletic  field  is  taking  practical, 
although  possibly  empirical,  advantage  of  this  better 
state.  The  common  condition  and  the  primary  cause 
of  all  this  is  the  increased  supply  of  oxygen  in  the  capil- 
laries, and  a  more  abundant  outflow  of  the  products 
of  wear  and  tear  than  when  at  rest.  The  importance 
of  the  capillaries  appears  in  this.  From  two  to  seven 
times  as  much  oxygen  unites  with  the  cells  as  in  re- 
pose, and  the  products  of  its  consumption  leave  them 
as  rapidly.  To  attain  the  best  results  of  exercise  the 
work  must  be  systematic  and,  if  in  the  gymnasium, 
it  should  be  in  classes  or  groups  carefully  arranged 
with  reference  to  the  individual  requirements.  Ir^ 
regular  and  desultory  exercise  is  rarely  helpful,  and 
where  regular  exercise  is  not  obligatory  a  large  pro- 
portion of  those  who  require  it  the  most  use  it  the 
least. 

Besides  leading  to  desirable  control  of  the  body  and 
to  reasonable    health,   systematic    exercise  „        .. 
within  the  growing  age  increases  the  length  affected  by 
of  the  bones  as  well  as  the  bulk  and  ser- 
viceability of  the  muscles.     Even  where  growth  ap- 


82  Personal  Hygiene 

pears  attained,  the  shoulders  may  be  broadened  and 
while  still  within  the  period  of  development  the  chest 
may  be  expanded.  This  is  shown  by  observations 
covering  two  considerable  terms  of  years  upon  cadets 
of  the  Naval  Academy,  who  were  lads  of  similar  age, 
similar  original  selection,  and  were  living  under  other- 
wise identical  conditions.  The  groups  were  large 
enough  for  minor  errors  to  be  disregarded.  During 
both  periods  their  compulsory  drills  and  general  duties 
gave  them  more  exercise  and  more  time  in  the  open 
air  than  other  students  as  a  class  enjoy.  The  only 
difference  between  the  groups  was  that  one  underwent 
systematic  bodily  training  in  addition  to  the  drills  and 
the  other  did  not.  Comparison  with  the  stature  of 
the  untrained  men,  which  might  be  taken  as  a  standard, 
showed  that  between  the  ages  of  i6  and  21  there  was 
a  gain  in  height  of  rather  more  than  one  inch  (26.6 
mm.),  that  is,  the  men  of  the  trained  battalion  averaged 
a  full  inch  taller  than  the  others.  In  individuals  this 
increase  may  have  been  considerably  more.  Weight 
increases  with  height,  and  while  the  normal  increase 
between  16  and  21  was  about  21  lbs.  (10  kilos),  that 
actually  attained  was  77  lbs.  (35  kilos).  However, 
weight  depends  upon  too  many  conditions  for  it  to  be 
a  constant  quantity.  But  the  most  important  gain  was 
that  in  lung  capacity,  which  is  reported  as  increasing 
five  pints  as  against  one  and  four-tenths  pints.  Such 
increase  of  lung  capacity  implies  a  greatly  enlarged 
chest  and  presumably  a  stronger  heart.  There  can 
be  no  better  demonstration  of  the  advantage  of  sys- 


Development  and  Care  of  the  Body  83 

tematic  exercise  than  the  results  thus  acquired  by 
picked  youth,  results  that  are  open  to  others  who  will 
make  the  effort.  But  no  serious  exercise  should  be 
undertaken  inconsiderately.  It  should  be  selected  for 
appropriateness,  be  approached  gradually,  and  be 
increased  only  with  increasing  strength.  Irregular 
and  excessive  exertion  yields  ill  effects.  On  the  other 
hand  the  neglect  of  exercise  leads  to  want  of  appetite, 
to  loss  of  vigor  and  of  animal  warmth,  and  to  imper- 
fect sleep. 

Good  breathing-capacity  implies  endurance,  the  key 
to  success;  and  it  is  more  important  than  mere  mus- 
cular strength.  Regulated,  deep-breathing  Effect  of 
exercises  strengthen  and  normally  develop  ^q^^^uq 
the  breathing  apparatus.  But  shallow  and  lungs 
careless  breathing  may  lay  a  foundation  for  disease. 
Therefore  the  chest  should  be  free  from  the  restraint 
of  either  tight  clothing  or  position,  and  formal  exer- 
cise should  be  carried  on  out  of  doors  or  in  a  room 
free  from  dust  and  overcrowding.  Dust  and  re- 
breathed  air  are  obviously  harmful,  and  a  dusty,  ill- 
ventilated  gymnasium  may  more  than  neutralize  the 
advantages  its  facilities  present.  On  the  other  hand 
over-exertion  causes  pulmonary  congestion;  the  blood 
cannot  pass  rapidly  enough  through  the  lungs.  Hurried 
and  rougher  breathing  indicates  this.  Suddenly  to 
"break  training,"  especially  that  for  running  or  boat- 
ing, invites,  or  runs  a  risk  of  inviting,  tuberculous 
disease,  as  explained  elsewhere.  In  such  prolonged 
exertion  as  serious  training  implies,  the  extreme  upper 


§4  Personal  Hygiene 

part  of  the  lung  is  unusually  expanded.  Sudden 
suspension  of  the  exertion  leads  those  margins  partly 
to  collapse,  and,  no  longer  washed  out  by  the  re- 
current aerial  tides,  they  afford  a  nidus,  a  nest,  for 
the  omnipresent  bacillus  or  germ  of  tuberculosis.  It 
constantly  happens  that  athletes  and  prize-winners 
fall  early  victims  to  consumption.  It  is  to  be  ex- 
pected that  such  men  will  die,  but  on  the  face  of  it 
one  should  suppose  that  consumption  would  spare 
them.  It  is  not  normal  exercise,  it  is  the  excessive 
strain  that  leads  to  this  mischief. 

Exercise  influences  the  heart,  so  that  palpitation  may 
follow  when  it  is  either  excessive  or  insufficient.  Over- 
Effect  of  work  may  lead  to  overgrowth  (hypertrophy) ; 
upon^tlfe  strain,  that  is  some  unusual  effort,  espe- 
heart  cially   in    the   young,    leads    to    dilatation. 

A  dilated  heart  is  a  stretched  heart.  There  is  serious 
risk  of  this  accident  where  great  volumes  of  blood  are 
forced  through  the  heart,  especially  the  growing  heart, 
within  a  narrow  limit  of  time,  as  in  some  of  the  great 
contests.  Following  convalescence  from  a  prolonged 
fever,  as  typhoid,  the  heart  usually  remains  particu- 
larly weak  very  much  longer  than  the  rest  of  the 
system;  so  that  there  is  great  danger  from  strain  then, 
even  after  the  other  muscles  have  fairly  recovered 
their  tone.  Racing  on  the  wheel  or  on  foot,  or  heavy 
lifting  and  other  great  effort,  may  lead  first  to  strain, 
then  to  dilatation.  A  dilated  heart  is  not  one  stretched 
like  a  balloon,  for  a  very  small  change  disturbs  the 
relative  state  of  the  parts.    Too  much  blood  forced 


Development  and  Care  of  the  Body  §^ 

into  any  of  the  four  chambers  is  liable  to  distort  the 
flexible  doors,  the  valves,  so  that  they  will  leak  back- 
ward. Happily  a  single  such  strain  properly  managed 
is  usually  recovered  from  in  the  young,  if  recognized 
and  cared  for  in  time.  But  it  is  better  not  to  incur 
the  risk.  Excessive  or  badly  regulated  exercise  leads 
first  to  dilatation  and  then,  usually,  to  overgrowth; 
although  hypertrophy  (overgrowth)  may  be,  and  often 
is,  induced  by  continuous  overworking  of  the  heart 
without  intermediate  dilatation.  All  the  conditions 
leading  up  to  these  disabilities  are  beyond  the  legiti- 
mate field  of  general  exercise. 

Sighing  generally  means  insufficient  oxygen.  Either 
the  blood  passes  so  rapidly  through  the  lungs  that  it 
cannot  take  up  an  adequate  supply,  or 
an  insufiicient  amount  of  blood  goes  through 
them,  or  the  air  itself  is  limited  in  amount  or  quality. 
In  either  case  the  cells  of  the  body  are  sending  an  in- 
articulate message  for  more  oxygen.  Under  great 
exertion  there  is  gasping,  a  modification  of  sighing; 
and  when  the  chest  is  mechanically  constrained  (as  with 
corsets),  or  there  is  great  loss  of  blood  (as  in  haemor- 
rhage), true  sighing  occurs.  The  involuntary  sighing 
sometimes  noticed  is  a  modification  of  one  or  the  other 
of  these  conditions.  In  later  life  involuntary  sigh- 
ing may  mean  a  leaking  valve. 

The  foundation  of  all  physical  vigor  lies  in  the 
proper  development  of  the  chest,  which  implies  habit- 
ually full  inspiration  through  the  proper  channels. 
The  mouth,  frequently  used   for  breathing,  is  not  a. 


S6  Personal  Hygiene 

proper  channel.  The  offices  of  the  mouth  are  the 
Normal  mastication  and  transmission  of  food  and 
breathing  articulation.  We  eat  and  talk  by  means 
of  the  mouth,  but  we  should  not  breathe  through  it. 
The  air  should  pass,  in  both  directions,  through  the 
nose,  the  multiple  folds  of  whose  lining  membrane 
are  lubricated  by  its  own  secretion.  In  health  there 
should  be  no  discharge  from  that  organ,  and  the 
handkerchief  in  its  common  application  should  be  a 
sheer  superfluity.  The  lining  membrane,  rich  in  blood, 
warms  and  moistens  the  incoming  air,  and  minute 
hair-like  attachments  (cilia)  waving  to  and  fro  inter- 
cept and  gradually  expel  the  suspended  dust.  This 
secretion  is  also  supposed  to  neutralize  at  least  some 
of  the  accompanying  bacteria.  The  mouth  that  habit- 
ually hangs  open  means  either  a  carelessness  closely 
approaching  inferior  intelligence — idiots  have  that 
habit — or  disease.  Sometimes  the  minor  morals  of 
polite  usage  have  been  so  neglected  in  childhood  that 
an  untrained  youth  may,  from  sheer  indifference, 
sit  with  a  dropped  jaw  and  a  vacant  expression.  But 
usually  it  means  that  the  passages  are  clogged  by  a 
congested  lining  or  by  a  painless  and  unrecognized 
growth  (known  as  the  third  tonsil)  at  the  rear  opening 
of  the  nasal  canal.  Other  possible  states,  to  be  noted 
presently,  gradually  assert  themselves.  Unconscious 
habits,  or  states,  become  so  nearly  second  nature  that 
frequently  the  victim  is  unaware  that  he  differs  from 
his  fellows  and  fails  to  appreciate  that  such  observa- 
tions as  these  have  a  personal  application.     If  directly 


Development  and  Care  of  the  Body   87 

asked,  he  may  reply  that  he  "has  a  little  cold  ";  but 
should  he  reflect  he  may  find  that  the  little  cold,  inter- 
fering with  his  own  comfort  and  with  the  pleasure  of 
his  associates,  is  a  frequent  if  not  a  constant  condi- 
tion, and  that  the  accidental  want  of  a  handkerchief 
seriously  embarrasses  him.  We  can  hardly  be  too. 
critical  of  ourselves,  and  when  any  defect  is  under 
discussion  every  one  may  properly  ask  himself.  Is  that 
mine?  He  may  be  surprised  at  the  answer.  In 
mouth-breathing  children,  not  those  who  carelessly 
acquire  the  habit  when  older  but  in  whom  it  is  con- 
genital, notwithstanding  the  outer  nostrils  may  be  un- 
obstructed the  inner  passage  is  apt  to  be  found  clogged 
in  some  way,  so  that  the  true  nose  fails  to  develop  as  an 
organ  for  breathing.  In  such  cases  the  infantile  arch  of 
the  upper  jaw  persists,  the  upper  teeth  are  apt  to  pro- 
trude, and  the  voice  is  liable  to  be  modified.  (Another 
cause  of  the  contracted  arch  arid  protruding  teeth  is 
supposed  to  be  the  infantile  habit  of  thumb-sucking, 
which  modifies  the  soft  upper  jaw  by  mere  pressure.) 
Where  the  air  is  cut  off  from  its  proper  course,  the 
condition  inconsistently  known  as  speaking  through 
the  nose  results.  Rather  curiously,  members  of  one's 
own  family  are  not  apt  to  recognize  these  defects, 
probably  because  of  the  familiarity  which  breeds  in- 
difference. Or,  if  recognized,  they  are  liable  to  be 
regarded  as  incurable  infirmities  to  be  patiently  en- 
dured. It  is  never  too  late  to  remove  the  third  tonsil 
and  thus  open  a  freer  route,  although  should  this  be 
deferred  until  the  bones  of  the  face  are  set  the  appear- 


88  Personal  Hygiene 

ance  will  not  be  changed.  Adults  and  children  alike 
have  numerous  other  painless  but  remediable  condi- 
tions, including  innocent  but  space-filling  growths 
within  the  nose.  A  common  obstacle  is  a  deviation  of 
the  median  partition,  which  is  not  so  easily  rectified. 
Whenever  one  channel  is  blocked,  wherever  in  its 
course,  a  greater  liability  to  catarrh  seems  to  depend 
upon  the  effort  to  force  a  larger  volume  of  air  through 
the  remaining  channel.  As  already  intimated,  it  is 
probable  that  some  disease-bearing  germs  enter  the 
lungs  much  more  freely  when  the  mouth  is  the  main 
air-channel. 

The  misnamed  nasal  twang  with  which  some  Amer- 
icans are  justly  charged  is  due,  partly  to  chronic 
Nasal  catarrh   blocking   the  nasal  passages,    and 

twang  partly  to  that  curious  and  unconscious  imi- 
tation by  which  in  youth  we  acquire  the  tones  most 
commonly  heard.  Unfortunately  as  a  people  all  our 
voices  are  too  sharp  and  lasping,  chiefly  from  the 
want  of  a  fair  standard  for  comparison  and  imita- 
tion. We  are  so  accustomed  to  strident  voices  that 
we  fail  to  recognize  their  inherent  infirmity.  The  one 
defect  of  our  charming  women  is  that  their  edged 
words  are  apt  to  cut  the  air  too  keenly,  and,  except 
that  they  are  somewhat  less  shrill,  the  tones  of  our 
men  offend  in  much  the  same  way.  One  advantage  of 
university  residence  should  be  serious  and  system.atic 
effort  to  acquire  a  tone  more  serene  and  persuasive^ 
even  if  less  penetrating  and  far-reaching. 

When  runners  get  their  "  second  wind  "  it  means 


Development  and  Care  of  the  Body   89 

that  under  the  stronger  action  of  the  heart  the  elastic 
blood-vessels  gradually  dilate  so  that  the  Second 
circulation  becomes  freer  and  the  blood  wind 
flows  more  easily.  Normal  children  when  unre- 
strained run  freely  and  easily,  in  preference  to  walking 
sedately.  This  is  because  their  vessels,  besides  being 
equally  elastic,  are  of  greater  relative  calibre"  to  the 
size  of  the  heart  and  the  quantity  of  blood  than  are 
those  of  adults.  The  heart  has  so  much  less  resistance 
to  overcome  that  children  are  not  restrained  by  its 
oppression.  With  youth,  and  with  some  others  before 
old  age  sets  in,  the  blood-vessels  gradually  expand  under 
exercise  and  thus  relieve  the  tension  in  the  lungs  that 
would  follow  from  forcing  too  much  blood  through  them 
hastily.  Horsemen  recognize  as  a  fact,  although  per- 
haps not  always  understanding  the  reason,  that  a  pre- 
requisite for  fleetness  in  a  horse,  and  especially  in  a  long- 
distance horse,  is  large  veins  which  under  the  require- 
ments of  speed  swell  with  blood  and  relieve  the  heart. 
The  preparatory  "warming  up"  of  both  animals  and  men 
is  partly  to  supple  the  muscles  and  partly,  unconsciously, 
to  expand  these  channels.  Another  factor  in  acquiring 
second  wind  is  the  unconscious  temporary  increase  of 
chest  capacity  by  the  expansion  of  the  walls  through 
the  flexibility  of  the  ribs,  and  the  depression  of  the 
diaphragm  in  the  very  effort  to  introduce  more  air. 
Very  soon,  then,  the  respirations  become  longer  and 
deeper  and  both  blood  and  air  arc  pumped  more  freely. 
As  long  as  this  condition  is  maintained  there  is  no 
trouble.     It  is  when  the  further  demand  exceeds  the 


90  Personal  Hygiene 

supply  that  the  respiration  becomes  quicker  and  more 
shallow  and  there  is  distress.  With  advancing  years 
the  arteries  grow  more  rigid,  and  they  fail  to  yield 
(except  by  breaking)  either  to  the  strong  impulses  of 
the  heart  under  sudden  strain  or  to  the  more  gradual 
effort  of  the  track. 

Breathlessness  in  its  last  analysis  is  not  absolute  lack 
of  air,  but  its  relative  insufhciency.  So  much  blood 
Breath=  is  driven  through  the  lungs  in  response  to 
lessness  ^Yie  requirements  of  the  system  under  mus- 
cular exertion  that  the  carbon  dioxide  cannot  be  elimi- 
nated nor  the  oxygen  be  absorbed  with  sufficient 
rapidity  to  keep  it  pure.  The  same  consequence  from 
different  conditions  occurs  in  certain  forms  of  heart- 
disease.  The  victim  pants  not  because  the  air  does 
not  freely  enter  the  lungs,  but  because  of  the  difficulty 
in  sufficiently  aerating  the  blood. 

A  barrel- shaped  chest  is  the  most  serviceable,  and  a 
broad  chest  is  one  of  strength.  As  already  pointed 
out,  the  essential  factor  is  less  the  gross 
circumference  than  the  difference  between 
inspiration  and  expiration.  The  ribs,  especially  in 
youth,  are  very  elastic,  and  much  of  the  development 
of  the  lungs  depends  upon  their  flexibility.  Practice 
increases  this  acquirement,  and  very  happily  will 
carry  this  qualification  of  youth  into  advanced  years; 
but  neglect  will  encumber  its  victim  with  rigid  and 
unyielding  walls.  The  professional  strong  men,  the 
weight-lifters,  are  frequently  inelastic  in  the  chest  and 
are  valueless  in  daily  life.     Even  although  the  chest 


Development  and  Care  of  the  Body  9 1 

may  be  loaded  down  with  muscle,  this  immobility  re- 
mains.    Still  more  objectionable,  except  that  taken  in 
time  it  may  be  modified,  is  the  contracted  chest  which 
fails  to  expand  properly.     Here  the  muscles  are  weak, 
the  back  is  rounded,  usually  the  ribs  may  easily  be 
counted,  and  frequently  the  subject  is  badly  nourished. 
Defective  chests,  besides  the  two  immobile  classes  just 
noted,  are  those  marked  by  abnormalities  unconsciously 
acquired   and   ignorantly  maintained.     The   common 
errors,  so  common  that  in  many  they  fail    Defective 
even  to  attract  the  eye,  much  less  to  ojffend  <^*^®sts 
the  observer,  are  one  shoulder  lower  than  the  other,  a 
transverse  (lateral)  curvature  of  the  spine,  or  a  bending 
forward,  particularly  at  the  shoulders.      The  lowered 
shoulder,  possibly  concealed  by  a  little  padding,  is  usually 
accompanied  by  flattening  of  the  upper  chest  on  the 
same  side.     Some  persons,  not  commonly  reckoned  as 
deformed,  have  the   breast-bone   thrust   forward   like 
the  prow  of  a  ship.     They  are  pigeon-breasted.     In 
all  of  the  foregoing  capacity,  that  is  breathing  space, 
is  lessened.     Usually  these  defects  depend  upon  ig- 
norance  or   carelessness;     a  few   are  due   to   unwise 
handling  in  infancy;    more  to  improper  attitudes  at 
the   desk,    especially   in   writing.     To   carry   weights, 
whether  school-books  in  a  strap   or  the  burdens  of 
severer  labor,  over  one  shoulder  or  by  one  arm,  tends 
to  depress  the  opposite  shoulder  (in  the  effort  to  pre- 
serve the  line  of  gravity)  and  to  flatten  that  side.   Where 
shoulders  slope  effeminately  it  is  sometimes  charged  that 
the  effort  to  keep  suspenders  from  slipping  off  is  respon- 


92  Personal  Hygiene 

sible  for  a  similar  irregularity.  A  frequent  occasion  for 
such  obliquity  is  the  weakness  of  rapid  growth,  where 
mere  erectness  becomes  a  strain  upon  the  supporting 
spinal  muscles,  and  parents  and  guardians  shirk  their 
duty.  But  sheer  carelessness  is  the  chief  cause  for  both 
Physical  unequal  shoulders  and  a  flexed  spine.  The 
carriage  average  citizen  upon  the  street,  the  frequent 
student  on  the  campus,  are  daily  illustrations.  Un- 
fortunately the  eye  is  so  accustomed  to  the  lounging 
gait  and  the  distorted  figure  that,  because  they  are 
not  unusual,  to  most  they  do  not  seem  unnatural.  This 
carelessness  is  so  great  and  anterior  curvature  of  the 
upper  spine,  round  shoulders,  is  so  common  as  to  be 
formally  recognized  in  the  great  factories  of  ready- 
made  clothing  where  the  coats  are  habitually  cut  to 
accommodate  the  artificial  hump  which,  more  and 
more,  is  marking  the  untrained  man.  A  man  with  the 
erect  back  that  nature  gives  will  find  such  a  coat  lie 
in  folds  across  his  shoulder-blades.  This  is  not  merely 
a  question  of  looks,  it  is  one  of  utility.  Every  devia- 
tion from  nature  is  not  merely  an  offence  to  the  trained 
eye,  but  is  a  practical  blemish  in  the  physical  life  of 
the  subject.  It  puts  him  to  disadvantage  as  well  as 
disfigures  him.  There  is  no  physiological  reason  for 
a  shambling  gait  more  than  for  a  trembling  hand; 
nor  should  the  rounded  shoulder  and  the  hanging  head 
be  glorified  as  the  scholar's  stoop,  while  a  similar 
impress  on  the  cobbler  over  his  last,  or  the  tailor  at 
his  board,  is  a  trade-mark  to  be  avoided.  In  each 
case    it    me^-ns    diminished    lung-    capacity,    lessened 


Development  and  Care  of  the  Body   93 

physical  vigor,  weakened  muscles,  and  an  unnatural 
flexion  passing  into  permanent  deformity.  All  this  is 
absolutely  unnecessary.  Young  and  healthy  children 
are  usually  erect  and  graceful.  Square  shoulders,  an 
erect  head,  and  a  natural  spine,  the  perpetuation  of 
what  so  many  have  lost,  are  perfectly  available  for 
every  healthy  young  man.  It  should  be  a  laudable 
ambition  for  every  liberal  student  to  bear  himself  so 
that  his  very  carriage  will  make  him  an  example  in 
physical  life,  as  his  intellectual  attainments  should 
make  him  a  leader  in  the  civic  world. 


IX 

Physical-culture  Exercises 

'T^HE  following  are  rules  *  for  maintaining  a  normal 
posture,  as  has  been  advised : 

A  line  perpendicular  to  the  floor  should  pass  through 
the  shoulder,  hip,  and  ankle. 

The  neck  is  to  be  erect  and  the  shoulders  held  up. 

A  perpendicular  plane  touching  the  buttocks  passes 
just  in  rear  of  the  shoulder-blades  and  about  twice 
as  far  behind  the  heels. 

A  perpendicular  plane  in  front  should  just  touch 
the  lips,  chin,  chest,  and  toes  when  the  feet  are  at  an 
angle  of  60°. 

The  chest  should  be  thrown  forward  by  expansion, 
and  the  abdomen  be  moderately  retracted. 

These  rules  yield  a  correct  standing  position  and 
hence  a  point  of  departure  for  walking  and  other 
exercises.  This  position  is  not  to  be  maintained  by 
contracting  any  muscle  into  stiffness,  nor  by  holding 
the  body  rigid,  but  by  encouraging  the  frame  to  sup- 
port itself  naturally. 

*  These  are  abstracted  bodily  from  a  writer  whose  name  has  been 
mislaid. 

9t 


Physical-culture  Exercises  95 

The  commoner  incorrect  positions  are:  The  back 
held  flat  in  constraint  (normally  the  spine  curves 
forward  below  the  shoulder-blades);  the  incorrect 
forward  stoop  and  rounded  shoulders;  the  Pos't'ons 
narrow  chest,  intensified  by  lateral  curvature.  Such 
deformities,  besides  being  offensive  to  the  eye,  diminish 
the  breathing  capacity  and  decrease  the  stature,  the 
barrel-like  contour  of  the  chest  is  destroyed,  and  the 
height  lessened  from  one-fourth  to  one  and  a  half 
inches.  When  the  pelvis  is  tilted  or  a  shoulder  drops, 
lateral  curvature  of  the  spine  follows.  The  pelvis 
acquires  an  angle  in  standing  carelessly,  as  is  so  com- 
mon, on  one  leg.  To  counteract  this  there  is  at  once  a 
compensating  lateral  curvature,  which  becomes  fixed 
if  the  habit  is  maintained.  Sitting  with  a  tilted  pelvis 
leads  to  the  same  results.  When  the  head  turns  side- 
ways or  the  neck  bends  toward  the  shoulder  (usually 
from  defective  vision),  as  in  reading  or  writing,  or  from 
any  cause  the  body  inclines  to  one  side,  there  is  a 
compensating  curve  to  the  other  side.  Such  deformi- 
ties may  commonly  be  corrected  before  maturity  sets 
in,  or  the  body  may  be  fortified  against  them.  To  cor- 
rect irregularities  of  carriage  or  to  promote  flexibihty, 
balance  exercises  are  important.  Keeping 
one's  balance  depends  upon  retaining  with-  ^^'^"^e 
in  a  certain  base  the  centre  of  gravity, 
which  necessarily  shifts  with  the  movement  of  the 
body  or  the  imposition  of  burdens.  A  perpendicular 
passing  through  the  centre  of  gravity  must  fall  within 
the  base  upon  which  we  rest.     Standing  on  both  feet, 


96  Personal  Hygiene 

the  perpendicular  readily  falls  within  the  space  in- 
closed by  their  outline.  Standing  on  one  foot,  the  base 
is  by  that  much  diminished.  To  stand  on  the  toes 
diminishes  it  still  more.  Hence  to  stand  on  one  foot, 
or  on  part  of  it,  and  to  move  the  other  through  space 
increases  both  suppleness  and  agility.  To  walk  a 
tight-rope  only  a  few  inches  above  the  floor,  which 
relieves  the  exercise  of  danger,  is  admirable  balance 
practice;  so  is  skating;  so  is  bicycling,  where  the  coun- 
teracting evil  is  cramping  the  chest  in  racing.  An 
exercise,  not  practicable  in  ordinary  clothing,  to  in- 
crease balance  and  flexibility  is:  Stand  erect  with  the 
arms  at  the  sides;  draw  the  arms  backward  until  the 
hands  are  about  eighteen  inches  from  the  vertical; 
drop  the  body  quickly  by  bending  the  knees  until  the 
thighs  and  the  legs  are  in  contact,  the  body  itself  re- 
maining upright;  then  at  once  spring  up  on  the  toes, 
swinging  the  arms  forward.  As  the  buttocks  touch 
the  heels  there  is  a  natural  tendency  to  rebound,  and 
this  may  be  repeated  from  three  or  four  to  a  dozen  times. 
Another  exercise,  useful  to  the  whole  body  as  well,  is 
that  of  skipping  the  rope  without  using  a  rope.  Swing- 
ing the  arms  in  circles  adds  to  its  value.  The  move- 
ment should  be  repeated  indefinitely,  stopping  short 
of  breathlessness.  During  this,  and  in  all  physical 
exercises,  the  breathing  should  be  deep  and  slow  with 
the  mouth  closed.  However,  as  the  exercise  pro- 
ceeds, especially  when  it  is  unfamiliar,  the  heart 
moves  faster  and  respiration  is  necessarily  hastened. 
The  a,rt  of  dancing,  whigh  adds  to  the  general  control 


Physical-culture  Exercises  97 

of  all  the  muscles,  their  agility,  and  their  coordinate 
action,  should  be  acquired  by  every  young  person; 
and  the  more  difficult  it  is  to  learn,  the  more  important 
is  it  that  it  should  be  learned.  The  very  confidence  in 
physical  carriage  and  the  unconscious  grace  that  it 
bestows,  in  themselves  approach  very  closely  to  in- 
herent hygienic  value. 

Certain  general  exercises  may  be  practised  in  the 
privacy  of  an  apartment  quite  as  well  as  in  a  gym- 
nasium. To  increase  the  power  of  the  General 
shoulders:  Stand  in  the  correct  position;  exercises 
lift  the  shoulders  as  high  as  possible,  and  bring  them 
forward  and  throw  them  backward  as  far  as  they  will 
go.  Such  simple  movements  mobilize  the  collar-bones 
and  shoulder-blades  and  at  once  strengthen  and  make 
more  flexible  the  overlying  muscles.  To  broaden  the 
shoulders  and  to  develop  the  muscles  of  the  upper 
back:  Stand  erect  at  right  angles  to  a  vertical  surface 
just  far  enough  away  for  the  tips  of  the  extended 
fingers  to  touch  it  easily.  Move  away  an  inch  and 
again  touch  the  surface  without  changing  the  feet  or 
bending.  Move  another  inch  and  it  is  not  so  easily 
done.  Repeat,  changing  the  position  only  a  trifle  each 
time,  until  the  surface  cannot  be  touched  while  the 
perpendicular  is  maintained,  and  then  begin  with  the 
other  side.  Persisted  in  for  a  few  months,  broadened 
and  symmetrical  shoulders  will  be  acquired. 

To  secure  some  flexibility  of  the  pelvis:  Stand  erect 
and  alternately  drop  the  hips  by  bending  the  corre- 
sponding   knee.     This    increases    the    flexibility    and 


98  Personal  Hygiene 

vigor  of  the  muscles  and  ligaments  involved,  and  it 
adds  to  elasticity  and  endurance  in  walking.  Begin 
slowly,  keep  it  up  for  a  minute  or  two,  and  ultimately 
increase  the  rapidity  of  action  and  prolong  the  time. 
The  common  act  of  stooping  to  pick  something  from 
the  floor  may  easily  be  made  profitable.  Do  not  squat, 
but  first  bend  the  knee,  then  the  hip-joint,  then  move 
the  shoulder  forward  and  extend  the  arm  so  as  to  bring 
the  hand  to  the  ground  without  twisting  the  spine. 
It  is  a  fundamental  rule  in  stooping  to  contract,  not 
to  relax,  the  abdomen.  At  table  throw  forward  the 
shoulders  and  if  necessary  bend  at  the  hips,  but  do 
not  twist  the  spine  if  it  can  be  avoided. 

But  although  it  is  undesirable  to  bend  the  spine  in 
stooping,  its  flexibility  should  be  maintained.  '  An 
effective  exercise  is:  Stand  correctly,  extend  the  arms 
in  line  with  each  other  at  the  level  of  the  shoulders, 
and  then  swing  the  arms  and  shoulders  together  in 
the  same  horizontal  plane  until  they  are  as  nearly 
as  possible  at  right  angles  to  their  original  position, 
the  hips  not  moving,  and  then  back  again  through 
180°.  To  support  the  arms  with  a  light  rod  makes 
it  easier.  Do  this  twenty  times  a  minute  until  the 
shoulders  tire.  Each  vertebra  turns  a  little  and  after 
some  practice  the  aggregate  is  considerable.  This  is 
as  useful  in  developing  the  muscles  of  the  back  and 
the  sides  of  the  chest  as  in  promoting  flexibility.  An 
excellent  variation  is  to  turn  slightly  the  hips  and 
pelvis,  bend  one  knee  a  little,  and  with  the  extended 
arms  cirectly  opposed  to  each  other  turn  the  body 


Physical-culture  Exercises  99 

on  its  axis  and  bring  first  one  and  then  the  other  hand 
between  the  feet.  Properly  these  movements  should 
be  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  a  minute.  At  their  best  the 
face  should  always  be  directed  toward  the  front  so  as 
to  strengthen  the  neck,  but  the  double  twist  is  difficult. 
Persevered  in,  such  movements  will  strengthen  the 
back  and  will  relieve  the  painful  weakness  of  those 
who  grow  rapidly.  They  are  much  better  done  in 
undress.  To  develop  the  neck-muscles  and  prevent 
headaches  from  muscular  weakness,  stand  against  a 
wall  and  move  the  head  from  side  to  side,  keeping 
the  face  vertical.  This  is  very  difficult  to  do  without 
rolling  the  head,  but  the  ultimate  result  justifies  the 
effort. 

The  act  of  breathing  is  either  costal  or  abdominal 
in  preponderance,  not  exclusively.  The  lungs  expand 
laterally  through  the  elasticity  of  the  ribs,  Exercises 
or  perpendicularly  by  depressing  the  dia-  breathing 
phragm  and  raising  the  apex  of  the  chest.  The  essen- 
tial feature  in  all  breathing  exercises  is  to  inflate  the 
lungs  upward  instead  of  downward,  as  though  trying 
to  lift  the  body  off  the  ground  by  the  inspired  air. 
As  a  preliminary  exercise,  the  chest  being  uncon- 
stricted,  first  fill  the  lungs  with  a  deep  breath  with- 
out straining,  hold  the  breath  a  few  seconds,  allow  it 
to  escape  slowly.  This  strengthens  and  makes  elastic 
the  chest- walls  and  increases  the  lung  capacity,  and 
it  should  be  done  whenever  it  is  remembered;  at  first 
once  or  twice  a  day,  afterward  once  or  twice  an 
hour,   finally  habitually.      Once   acquired,  this  habit 


lOO  Personal  Hygiene 

betokens  dignity  and  repose  of  manner  and,  more 
important,  enduring  strength.  Shallow-breathing  and 
quick-breathing  persons  are  necessarily  devoid  of  en- 
durance. 

The  principle  just  described  is  at  the  foundation  of 
competent  breathing,  but  there  are  valuable  special 
exercises  w^hich  combine  respiratory  and  muscular 
exertion  and  are  particularly  adapted  to  enlarge  and 
strengthen  small-chested  men,  those  deficient  in 
measurement  and  mobility.  The  simplest,  of  which 
all  the  others  are  variants,  is  to  stand  erect,  lock  the 
thumbs  in  front  of  the  body,  draw  in  a  long  breath, 
and  at  the  same  time  slowly  raise  the  hands  above 
the  head,  keeping  the  arms  straight  and  the  hands 
extended.  Then  slowly  lower  the  arms,  keeping  the 
head  erect,  and  exhale  as  they  descend.  Such  move- 
ments are  exhilarating  by  introducing  more  fresh  air, 
and  they  tend  to  develop  both  the  lungs  and  the  chest- 
walls.  They  should  be  practised  night  and  morning,  not 
oftener  than  ten  times  a  minute.  Another  is  to  raise 
the  elbows  to  the  level  of  the  shoulders,  the  hands  to- 
gether and  on  the  same  plane,  extend  the  arms  as  in 
swimming,  and  simultaneously  fill  the  lungs  with  air. 
Then  bring  the  arms  around  on  the  outer  circle  to 
points  on  a  level  with  the  shoulders,  and  slowly  empty 
the  lungs  as  the  hands  fall  to  the  side.  An  excellent 
way  to  attain  the  same  result  is  to  face  the  angle  of  a 
room  with  both  hands  extended  against  the  walls. 
Lean  forward  on  the  toes  until  the  head  enters  the 
angle,  and  support  the  body  by  allowing  the  extended 


Physical-culture  Exercises  loi 

arms  to  glide  along  the  walls  so  as  to  stretch  the  chest 
mechanically.  Resume  the  upright  position  by  draw- 
ing the  body  back  with  the  arms.  Careful  practice 
with  any  of  these  movements  should  develop  strong 
chests. 

The  heart,  the  other  chief  occupant  of  the  chest, 
is  closely  associated  with  the  lungs  in  complementary 

function  as  well  as  in  position.     A  sedentary    _ 

ir     •         r  •  ,     .       r  1,         •        i  The  heart 

me  mterferes  with  its  full  action  because 

the  blood  fails  to  circulate  with  normal  force  and 
frequency,  so  that  in  enforced  general  inactivity  there 
should  be  co  responding  exercises  to  maintain  the 
balance.  The  poverty  of  the  blood  known  as  anaemia 
(literally  bloodlessness)  is  generally  due  to  insuffi- 
cient diet,  but  may  depend  upon  the  sluggishness  of 
the  circulation — the  blood  failing  to  move  rapidly 
enough  to  undergo  proper  nutritive  change.  This  is 
particularly  true  of  children  within  the  school  age,  and 
some  who  do  not  suffer  from  insufficiency  of  food  may 
long  feel  the  effects  of  inadequate  exercise.  For  the 
very  young,  exercise  of  the  heart  is  of  prime  importance, 
and  it  is  better  attained  by  natural  unrestrained  run- 
ning and  out-door  play  than  by  the  artificial  methods 
of  the  gymnasium.  With  every  one,  but  especially 
with  young  children,  the  object  should  be  to  avoid 
heart-strain,  and  to  encourage  exercises  which  do  not 
require  a  maximum  effort  within  a  limited  time. 
That  is  because  in  the  very  young  the  heart  is  small 
and  is  limited  in  strength,  but  die  arteries  are  rela- 
tively large  and  the  circulation  goes  on  readily.     This 


I02  Personal  Hygiene 

is  the  natural  reason  why  children,  if  not  too  hard 
pressed  at  any  one  time,  can  run  in  the  course  of  a 
day  for  periods  that  would  completely  exhaust  an 
adult.  With  children  waste  and  repair  go  on  very 
rapidly,  and  their  ultimate  reason  for  moderation  and 
rest  is  that  prolonged  exercise  uses  up  tissue  and  fills 
the  blood  with  disintegration-products.  Along  with 
the  heavy  demands  for  repair  are  the  requirements  of 
new  growth,  so  that  a  growing  child  often  requires  for 
its  daily  wants  as  much  food  as  an  adult — certainly 
as  an  adult  not  carrying  on  severe  labor.  But  about 
puberty  the  heart  suddenly  enlarges  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  the  calibre  of  the  arteries,  and  it  pumps 
then  with  more  force.  The  relatively  smaller  arteries 
therefore  afford  more  friction  and  mo  e  resistance, 
so  that  to  accomplish  equal  results  the  heart  drives 
the  blood  under  greater  pressure.  That  difference  in 
relation  persists,  and  after  the  age  of  twenty-five 
exercises  of  speed  affect  a  person  much  more  than 
during  the  period  of  development.  The  foundation 
for  the  mechanical  straining  of  the  valves  is  laid  about 
the  age  of  twenty  and  subsequently,  when  the  blood 
cannot  get  away  fast  enough  from  the  heart.  With 
advancing  years  the  arteries  lose  much  of  their  remaining 
elasticity  and  grow  more  and  more  brittle,  with  in- 
creasing risk  of  that  snapping  of  their  coats  which 
causes  apoplexy. 

Note. — The  most  of  the  exercises  described  in  this  section  are 
from  text -books  whose  references  unfortunately  have  been  lost. 


X 

Fatigue 

'nr^HE  condition  of  fatigue  and  recovery  therefrom 
is  common  experience.  We  all  know  experi- 
mentally what  it  is  to  be  tired,  and  when,  no  longer 
tired,  we  say  we  have  rested  we  express  one  of  the 
agencies  in  the  recovery  of  strength.  The  human 
organism  is  in  perpetual  unrest  and  it  is  the  wearing 
away  of  its  particles  that  causes  weariness,  and  their 
renewal  is  the  revival  of  vigor.  Every  physical  move- 
ment, exercise  of  the  will,  stirring  of  emotion,  causes 
the  disintegration  and  death  of  animal  substance. 
The  various  parts  wear  away  under  labor,  and  in 
health  they  are  renewed  in  the  manner  about  to  be 
outlined. 

The  blood-bearing  capillaries  interlace  everywhere 
through  microscopic  areas  so  close  together  that  the 
prick  of  the  finest  needle  draws  blood.  Lymph- 
But  between  the  cells  which  make  up,  each  spaces 
group  after  its  kind,  the  various  structures  there  are 
also  innumerable  chinks  and  crannies  called  lymph- 
spaces,    into   which   oozes   from   the    capillary   blood 

nutrient    material   and    from   the    tissues    themselves 

103 


104  Personal  Hygiene 

waste  in  solution.  Thus  the  cells  are  constantly 
bathed  in  a  mixture  of  their  peculiar  food  and  of  their 
own  worn-out  matter.  If  it  were  possible  to  make  a 
section  of  flesh  from  which  no  blood  would  escape, 
nevertheless  to  the  hand  it  would  feel  soft  and  damp, 
as  the  moist  and  pliable  fresh  meat  at  the  butcher's 
imperfectly  illustrates.  If  it  were  devoid  of  all  liquid 
except  the  blood  itself,  it  wouU  be  stiff  and  relatively 
hard.  Much  of  the  flexibility  of  the  soft  parts  during 
life  depends  upon  their  saturation  with  the  animal 
fluids. 
The  condition  is  substantially  this :  Osmosis  is  con- 
stantly  occurring  through  the  simple  walls 
of  the  blood -bearing  capillaries.  Blood 
is  a  watery  fluid,  or  plasma,  holding  in  solution  or 
suspension  nutritive  materials  derived  from  the  food, 
and  also  heavily  charged  with  floating  particles. 
These  particles  are  the  red  and  white  corpuscles,  in 
the  proportion  of  300  red  to  one  white,  and  in  every 
j\  cubic  inch  of  blood  there  are  about  5,000,000  red 
corpuscles  which  give  it  its  color.  These  "are  so 
many  little  packages  in  which  oxygen  is  stored  away.'* 
The  chief  province  of  these  corpuscles  is  to  absorb 
oxgyen  from  the  air,  which  they  readily  do  as  they 
pass  along  the  capillaries  in  the  lungs,  and  to  carry  it 
to  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  body  where  on  demand 
it  is  relinquished  to  the  primary  cell-combinations 
that  make  up  the  ultimate  structures.  In  health  the 
red  corpuscles  themselves  do  not  escape  through  the 
capillary  walls,  but  under  varying  degrees  of  pressure 


Fatigue  105 

they  yield  a  part  of  the  oxygen  they  are  carrying  to 
the  liquid  itself,  the  plasma,  where  it  is  held  in  solu- 
tion and  from  which  it  escapes  to  build  up  cells  when 
the  plasma  passes  by  osmosis  out  of  the  vessels. 

The  nutritive  part  of  the  plasma  that  thus  reaches 
the  spaces  outside  of  the  capillaries  is  called  lymph, 

and  the  spaces  into  which  it  thus  leaks  are        ,         , 

.    .  Lymph 

the  lymph-spaces.     By  further  osmosis  into 

the  cells  tlie  lymph  gives  up  to  them  a  part  of  its  con- 
structive material,  and  it  receives  from  them  broken- 
down  material  of  which  a  part  thus  gathered  returns 
by  a  further  osmotic  process  to  the  capillaries,  whence  it 
flows  on  as  a  part  of  the  blood  into  the  veins.  Hence 
by  means  of  these  minute  vessels  the  moving  column 
of  blood  constantly  loses  nutritive  material  and  as 
constantly  takes  up  that  which  has  been  worn  out  in 
the  service  of  the  body.  Moreover,  the  capillaries 
near  the  digestive  apparatus  directly  absorb  the  nutri- 
tive material  as  it  becomes  fit.  Then,  as  the  blood 
passes  through  the  kidneys  and  the  sweat-glands,  it 
parts  with  a  great  deal  of  water,  much  of  which,  espe- 
cially that  going  out  by  the  kidneys,  is  charged  with 
waste.  As  explained  elsewhere,  the  whole  character 
of  the  blood  changes  in  the  lungs  by  the  elimination 
of  carbon  dioxide  into,  and  the  absorption  of  oxygen 
from,  the  air,  both  through  the  agency  of  the  capil- 
laries. Hence  at  varying  ])oints  in  its  progress  the 
blood  differs  from  the  theoretical  standard.  Upon  the 
whole,  because  of  the  greater  pressure  within  the 
vessels,  the  j)lasma  loses  more  liquid  to  the  lymph  than 


lo6  Personal  Hygiene 

it  receives  from  the  lymph-spaces.  The  excess  uid- 
mately  rejoins  the  column  of  blood  in  ways  of  no  prac- 
tical importance  for  consideration  here. 

When  there  is  much  exertion,  physical  or  mental, 
and  in  some  forms  of  illness,  breaking-down  goes  on 
faster  than  building-up,  so  that  there  is  in 
the  blood  an  excess  of  disintegrated  mate- 
rial. When  that  occurs  we  say  we  are  fatigued.  Now 
fatigue  is  both  a  condition  and  a  sensation.  It  is  a 
condition,  in  that  it  represents  loss  of  strength  due  to 
exertion.  It  is  a  sensation,  in  that  it  expresses  in 
terms  of  nervous  action  the  consequences  of  that  loss. 
The  normal  sensation  (not  the  condition)  of  an  excess 
of  body  waste  in  the  blood  may  be  masked  by  certain 
drugs,  notably  alcohol,  so  as  to  disguise  the  fact  and 
make  a  false  record  upon  the  nervous  system,  and  the 
subject  may  temporarily  fail  to  recognize  that  he  is 
fatigued.  Pure  emotional  excitement  may  lead  to 
extra  exertion.  In  the  lower  animals,  and  indeed  in 
man,  the  stimulus  of  the  whip  may  induce  fresh  exer- 
tion when  genuine  fatigue  demands  rest.  All  of  these, 
corporal  punishment,  high  emotion,  or  alcohol,  are 
false  helps  in  that  they  do  not  remove  the  fatigue 
itself.  Either  they  apply  for  the  time  a  stronger  stim- 
ulus, or,  as  is  notably  true  of  alcohol,  they  derange 
the  nervous  conducting  power,  so  that  false  messages 
are  transmitted.  Alcohol,  moreover,  does  other  mis- 
chief, to  be  noted  elsewhere. 

An  interesting  demonstration  of  the  nature  of 
fatigue  is  this:  A  certain  quantity  of  blood  was  taken 


Fatigue  107 

from  the  veins  of  a  dog  that  had  undergone  no  exertion, 
and  an  equal  quantity  drawn  from  another  ^ 
dog  of  the  same  breed,  age,  weight,  and  stration 
general  style  that  also  had  been  at  rest  **  *  *^"^ 
was  substituted.  There  was  no  change  in  the  be- 
havior of  the  dog  thus  operated  upon,  which  showed 
that  the  substitution  of  normal  blood  was  a  perfectly 
regular  procedure  so  far  as  consequences  were  con- 
cerned. In  connection  with  the  experiment  that  fol- 
lowed this  was  what  is  technically  known .,  ^ 

•^  Nature  of 

as  a  control  experiment.     That  is,  the  con-  control 
ditions  were  identical  excepting  as  to  the  ^^''^"'"^" 
special  feature  under  investigation.     Then  on  another 
day  the    experiment    was    varied    by  substituting    in 
a  dog    that  had    undergone    no    exertion    p. 
blood  taken  from  one  completely  tired  out.    stration 
The  dog  that  had  taken  no  exercise  and    ^^"  *""^ 
that  should  not  have  been  tired,  but  which  received 
blood  from  the  overworked  dog,  immediately  showed 
all  the  signs  of  fatigue  and  crept  away  into  a  place  of 
repose  and  slept.     The  fair  inference  is  that  muscular 
work  creates  fatigue-products  which  enter  the  blood. 
These  probably  represent  an  excess  of  broken-down 
muscle-  and  nervc-cclls  and  perhaps  their  more  than 
usual  disintegration,  so  that  the  lymph  and  hence  the 
blood  is  temporarily  poisoned   by  these  products  of 
exertion  and  the  nervous  system  in  contact  therewith 
carries   that    message   to   the   brain.     One's   working 
power  is  diminished  when  he  is  tired,  because  a  part 
of  his  working  apparatus,  of  his  capital,  has  been  ex- 


Io8  Personal  Hygiene 

pended.  More  than  that,  he  feels  less  inclined  to  work 
because  his  brain  thus  interprets  the  sensation  con-, 
veyed  to  it  by  the  nerves  in  contact  with  the  disinte- 
gration-products. He  is  also  less  capable  of  working 
for  the  same  reason,  because  voluntary  labor  requires 
adequate  nervous  stimulus.  The  warnings  of  fatigue' 
should  therefore  be  respected.  But  it  is  not  necessary 
to  be  too  cautious  in  this  matter  of  work.  All  work' 
need  not  cease  at  the  first  suggestion  of  fatigue,  for. 
strength  and  especially  endurance  (a  different  quality 
from  strength)  maybe  acquired  by  practice  which  passes. 
the  limits  of  ease.  That  is,  a  distinction  should  be. 
drawn  between  disability  and  disinclination.  It  is 
profitable  to  remember  that  "  what  man  calls  lassitude 
the  fox  calls  laziness,"  and  not  to  confuse  languor 
and  laziness  with  the  premonitions  of  fatigue  and 
incapacity.  We  may  fairly  infer  from  the  foregoing 
that"  severe  intellectual  labor,  leading  to  the  expendi- 
ture of  nerve-cells,  acts  in  the  same  way.  It  is  not 
so  easily  proved,  but  doubtless  all  such  effort  throws 
into  the  lymph-spaces,  and  so  into  the  blood,  broken^ 
down  nerve-cells  in  excess  of  the  ordinary  wear  and 
tear.     But    after    all    worry    is    more    re- 

orostration  ^P°^^^^^^  ^^^^  work  for  nervous  break- 
down, and  the  abuse  of  tobacco  and  other 
nervous  depressants  is  a  close  second  in  the  causa- 
tion of  neurasthenia  or  nervous  prostration,  so  called. 
It  follows,  and  it  is  confirmed  by  common  expe- 
rience, that  vigor  returns  after  rest  and  food.  This 
is  because  during  simple  rest  not  only  the  special  draft 


Fatigue  109; 

ceases,  but  the  blood,  unless  impoverished  by  star- 
vation or  disease,  sends  into    the  lymph-    „ 
spaces  more  lymph   than  that  neutralized    from 
by  the    current  vitiation.      Moreover,   the 
Waste  matter  already  in  the  blood  is  constantly  being 
lessenedo     It  is  not  the  elimination  of  waste  from  the 
blood,   it  is  its  passing  into  the  blood,   that  makes 
trouble;    just  as,  for  example,  it  is  not  the  sewage 
filtered  out  of  a  water-supply,  but  that  which  is  dis- 
charged  into   it,    which   damages   the   public  health. 
Mere  rest,   the  negative  factor  of  simple  abstention 
from  exertion,  thus  helps  to  equalize  outgo  and  in- 
come.    When  we    add  to  the  foregoing  the  positive 

element  of  new  material  derived  from  nu- 

Food 
tntious  food,  we  see  how  fatigue  is  over- 
come. Both  are  necessary.  Food  is  essential,  but 
we  know  very  well  that  we  cannot  continue  working 
indefinitely  as  a  consequence  of  merely  eating.  Rest 
must  help  to  restore  the  equilibrium.  Nor  is  simple 
rest,  abstinence  from  labor,  alone  sufficient.  Sleep, 
sleep  at  night  in  a  thoroughly  ventilated 
apartment  is  of  prime  importance.  Breath- 
ing, which  is  a  modified  form  of  nutrition,  constantly 
carries  oxygen  to  the  blood,  and  it  is  as  important 
that  it  should  be  pure  at  night  as  that  it  should  be 
uncontaminatcd  by  day.  Every  man  should  sleep 
consecutively  for  eight  hours,  and  for  many  ten  is  not 
too  much  if  appropriate  work  has  been  carried  on  in 
the  day.  The  younger  and  the  more  industrious 
over  books  and  field  sports  are  the  subjects,  the  more 


no  Personal  Hygiene 

imperative  is  the  need  for  sleep.    And  as  the  sleep 

before  midnight  is  the  beauty  sleep  for  those  to  whom 

beauty  is  an  attribute,  -  so  is  one  hour's  sleep  before 

midnight  worth  two  after  it  for  growing  youths  engaged 

in  mental  work.     It   must  never  be  forgotten  that  a 

.    ^  stimulant,  whether  coffee  (or  its  analogue, 
Stimulants  ^  °. 

tea),  tobacco,  alcohol,  or  any  of  the  myriad 
nerve  excitants,  is  not  a  substitute  for  food  and  repose. 
Sometimes  these  temporarily  suppress  or  modify  the 
message  sent  to  the  brain  so  as  to  falsify  the  actual 
condition,  but  they  add  no  strength,  restore  no  waste, 
and  in  the  end  the  most  of  them  create  a  special  mis- 
chief of  their  own.  • 


The  Elimination  of  Waste 

'THHE  perpetual  renewal  of  the  human  frame  is 
necessarily  accompanied  by  the  elimination  of 
worn-out  material.  A  small  quantity  of  such  tissue- 
waste  escapes  with  the  solid  discharge  of  the  bowels, 
but  that  discharge  is  chiefly  the  direct  remains  of 
food,  and  its  consideration  need  not  detain  us.     But 

much  of  the  fluid  sometimes  passed  from  ^. 
1111  r  ^  Diarrhoeas 

the   bowels   does   come    from   the    person, 

not  from  the  drink.  As  such  diarrhoeas  represent 
departures  from  health,  they  concern  us  here  only  as 
something  to  be  avoided.  It  is  sufficient  that  many 
diarrhoeas  are  due  to  antecedent  irritation  and  repre- 
sent nature's  effort  to  expel  unassimilable  material, 
some  are  symptoms  of  constitutional  disease,  some 
follow  a  disturbance  of  local  temperature.  These  last, 
with  which  alone  hygiene  is  properly  occupied,  occur 
when  the  surface  of  the  abdomen,  sometimes  the  surface 
of  the  entire  body,  becomes  chilled,  so  that  blood 
driven  from  that  surface  is  thrown  in  excess  into  the 
intestinal  capillary  circulation,  from  which  much  of 
the  watery  part  QXUdcs  into  the  course  of  the  bowel. 

XIX 


1 1 2  Personal  Hygiene 

This  is  nature's  method  to  relieve  a  local  surplus.  It 
is  always  good  policy,  not  only  negatively,  to  avoid 
chilhng  the  abdomen,  which  is  most  likely  to  occur 
at  night,  but  positively,  to  keep  it  warm.  There  may 
also  be  a  diarrhoea  of  constipation,  where  retained 
fasces  sometimes  act  as  an  irritant,  leading  to  watery 
flow  in  the  effort  to  get  rid  of  them.  The  general 
lesson  is  to  avoid  unduly  cooling  the  surface,  and  to 
take  competent  advice  as  to  persistent  diarrhoea.  Un-^ 
instructed  persons  sometimes  say  dysentery  for  c  iarrhoea, 
as  more  elegant.  The  conditions  are  entirely  distinct, 
and  it  is  as  absurd  to  say  dysentery  when  diarrhoea  is 
meant,  as  it  is  to  speak  of  a  common  cold  as  an  in- 
fluenza. 

From  half  a  pint  to  a  pint  (330-526  gms.)  of  carbon 
escapes  invisibly  from  the  lungs  daily  in  the  form  of 

carbon    dioxide.     This    is    easily    demon- 
Lungs  . 

strated  by  passing  the  breath  through  lime- 
water,  when  a  white  cloud  appears.  Watery  vapor' 
also  escapes  freely  from  the  lungs.  On  a  frosty  day 
much  of  this  is  visible  in  the  exhaled  breath,  but  there 
is  none  the  less  when  it  is  not  sufficiently  condensed 
to  be  observed. 

The  kidneys  separate  from  the  blood  waste  held  in 
watery  solution.     The  half-million  capsules  and  fifteen 

miles  of  tubing  there  assembled  assert  the 
Kidneys       .  °  1  •  1 

importance  of  these  organs,  through  which 

sooner  or  later  all  the  blood  in  the  body  passes, 
and  fronl  which  the  perpetual  current  of  urine  is  ex- 
creted.    The   amount   of  urine   formed   in   any  par- 


The  Elimination  of  Waste         113 

ticular  period  varies  with  that  of  the  perspiration!  to' 
which  it  is  complementary,  and  the  rate  may  be  in^: 
fluenced  by  nervous  conditions.  As  rapidly  as  it  is 
formed  it  passes  through  one  long  slender  tube  from 
each  kidney  to  the  bladder,  which  easily  holds  from 
one-half  to  three-fourths  of  a  pint  or  more.  The  total 
amount  made  by  the  adult  in  the  twenty- four  hours 
varies  between  two  and  a  half  and  five  pints.  About, 
forty  parts  in  one  thousand  of  average  urine  are  solid,: 
chiefly  representing  broken-down  flesh.  It  is  this 
which  must  be  expelled,  not  the  water,  which  is  merely 
the  vehicle.  This  waste  is  formed  in  the  liver  and- 
there  is  thrown  into  the  blood  to  be  eliminated  by  the 
kidneys.  When  they  are  damaged  so  that  a  part  of 
this  waste  is  retained,  the  body  suffers  in  proportion;, 
and  when  they  entirely  cease  to  act  death  quickly; 
follows.  An  excess  of  flesh  food,  that  is  more  than 
the  system  requires  to  repair  waste  and  in  the  young 
to  form  new  tissue,  puts  a  serious  strain  on  both  the, 
kidney  and  the  liver,  requiring  of  them  extra  work. 
When  the  bladder  is  irritable,  so  that  "water  is  passed: 
more  frequently  than  usual,  it  is  often  supposed  that 
an  unnatural  amount  is  actually  excreted;  and  when 
there  is  pain  or  stiffness  in  the  loins  many  think  the 
kidneys  are  diseased.  These  are  two  popular  errors 
that  often  occasion  much  unnecessary  anxiety.  Im- 
portant as  they  are,  the  kidneys  are  rarely  attacked' 
acutely  and  more  rarely  with  direct  and  severe  pain.' 
The  constant,  even  if  not  excessive,  drinking  of  alcoholi 
is  p-pt  finally  to  disorganize  them,  but  local  _ disease 


Ii4  Personal  Hygiene 

is  usually  a  complication  of  other  diseases.  Thus  it 
is  a  frequent  and  dangerous  consequence  of  scarlet 
fever,  and  the  lighter  the  attack  appears  to  be,  espe- 
cially in  a  cold  climate,  the  more  liable  are  the  kidneys 
to  be  involved.  In  convalescence  from  scarlet  fever, 
preeminently  a  disease  of  youth,  extra  work  is  thrown 
upon  the  kidneys  owing  to  the  inactivity  of  the  skin, 
and  the  subsequent  dropsy  that  frequently  happens 
is  due  to  the  inability  of  the  kidneys  to  dispose  of  all 
the  water.  The  most  scrupulous  heed  should  be  paid 
lest  the  imperfectly-working  skin  and  the  overworking 
kidneys  are  chilled,  or  are  clogged  by  unwise  diet. 
Acute  inflammation  of  the  kidneys  (not  incidental  to 
other  disease),  a  very  serious  state,  most  commonly 
depends  upon  exposure  to  wet  cold,  either  directly 
over  the  loins  or  general  and  prolonged.  It  is  neither 
a  sign  nor  a  test  of  manhood  to  submit  to  avoidable 
trials  of  that  kind,  and  forewarned  should  be  fore- 
armed by  the  operation  of  intelligent  prudence. 

The  skin  is  a  general  envelope  of  two  strata.  The 
outer  one  (epidermis)  is  insensitive  and  consists  of 
flattened  cells  whose  dead  superficial  layers 
are  constantly  pushed  off  by  those  under 
them,  as  illustrated  by  the  rolls  peeled  off  after  a  warm 
bath.  It  is  without  blood-vessels  and  is  nourished 
by  simple  absorption  from  beneath.  The  lower  layer 
or  true  skin  (dermis)  is  extremely  sensitive  through 
the  terminal  filaments  of  its  multitude  of  nerves,  by 
pressure  upon  which,  through  the  loose  upper  stra- 
tum; we  literally  keep  in  touch  with  the  outer  world. 


The  Elimination  of  Waste  11^ 

Complexion  depends  upon  the  color  of  the  deeper 
cells,  blonds  having  little  and  the  dark  races  much 
pigment.  Blushing  follows  an  increase  of  Com- 
blood  in  the  superficial  capillaries,  and  its  plexion 
occurrence  upon  slight  provocation  indicates  extreme, 
sometimes  abnormal,  nervous  sensibility.  The  pallor 
of  some  disease,  as  well  as  that  of  persons  not  other- 
wise appreciably  ill,  shows  an  insufficient  amount, 
or  an  impaired  quality,  of  blood.  Continuous  ex- 
posure to  the  sun  and  wind  coarsens  the  skin  as  well 
as  darkens  it,  as  seen  in  the  face  and  neck  of  farm- 
laborers  and  sailors.  A  sun-and- wind-roughened  skin 
probably  never  recovers  its  pristine  delicacy.  Freckles 
are  changes  induced  by  the  sun  in  the  pigment  of  deli- 
cate skins.     A  yellow  veil  should  protect  against  them. 

This  lower  stratum,  the  dermis,  is  closely-woven 
fibrous  tissue  which  becomes  areolar  toward  the 
body.  In  the  young  of  both  sexes  and  in  Areolar 
\7omen  these  meshes  hold  numerous  fat-  tissue 
cells,  which  round  the  contour  and  are  non-conductors 
of  heat. 

Under  the  epidermis  are  minute  elevations  of  the 

dermis  called  papillae,  some  of  which  contain  an  artery 

and    two    small   veins,   and    others    tactile        ^    ,„ 

Papillae 

nerves.  On  the  palm  these  lie  m  rows 
which  form  delicate  ridges  as  the  epidermis  dips 
between.  On  the  finger-tips  they  run  in  whorls  which 
are  never  duplicated,  and  the  impress  of  the  thumb, 
the  oldest  of  all  seals  of  authentication,  is  the  best 
possible  identification. 


1 1 6  Personal  Hygiene 

Hairs  arise  from  follicles,  or  special  papillae,  at 
the    bottom    of    depressions,    and    slender    unstriped 

.  muscular     fibres     run,    usually    obliquely, 

from  the  true  skin  to  the  side  of  the 
follicles.  When  these  fibres  shorten  under  the  reflex 
action  of  anger  or  fear  the  hair  becomes  relatively 
erect.  Hair  does  not  grow  in  the  ordinary  way,  that 
is  at  the  outer  extremity.  It  is  protruded,  pushed  out 
from  beneath.  Its  color  depends  upon  the  pigment 
in  the  cortex,  and  it  becomes  gray  as  the  central  air- 
cells  increase  and  better  reflect  the  incident  light.  But 
it  is  not  clear  why  they  increase.  Probably  air  replaces 
the  shrunken  cells.  It  certainly  indicates  either  gen- 
eral or  local  physical  deterioration,  and  the  influence 
of  the  nervous  system  is  constant  and  well  marked. 
There  are  historical  instances  of  the  hair  turning  gray 
in  one  night,  and  premature  grayness  from  sorrow 
or  anxiety  is  not  very  uncommon.  The  falling  of 
the  hair  depends  on  many  causes,  not  all  of  which 
are  recognized.  Heredity  and  certain  diseases  play 
a  part,  the  essence  being  degradation  of  the  follicle. 
Baldness  is  also  one  of  the  signs  of  the  atrophy,  the 
general  wasting,  of  advancing  age;  although  the 
hirsuteness  of  other  parts,  as  the  chin,  the  breast,  the 
axillae,  the  pubes,  is  not  diminished.  Probably  the 
most  general  condition  leading  to  premature  baldness 
is  confinement  of  the  hair  by  a  close-fitting,  ill- ventilated 
covering,  or  by  constriction  of  the  blood-supply  by  a 
tight  circumscribing  ring.  Certainly  savages  and 
women,  who  are  least  troubled  with  tight  hats,  preserve 


The  Elimination  of  Waste        1 1 7 

their  hair  much  longer  than  the  average  white  man. 
Notwithstanding  a  substantial  head- covering  may  in- 
terfere with  the  quantity  of  hair,  the  greater  should 
not  be  mistaken  for  the  less  and  the  head  be  allowed 
to  suffer  for  the  sake  of  its  appendage. 

In  the  connective  tissue  just  beneath  the  true  skin 
lie  an  enormous  number  of  minute  glands,  each 
with  a  spiral  duct  that  opens  upon  the  Sweat:* 
surface.  These  microscopical  mouths  are  ^  ^"  * 
popularly  known  as  the  pores  of  the  skin,  and  the 
common  impression  seems  to  be  that  they  play  the  part 
of  a  colander  whose  orifices  open  and  close  automati- 
cally. As  a  matter  of  fact  around  each  of  these  little 
glands  is  entwined  a  very  close  capillary  network^ 
which  always  implies  an  active  function.  They  are 
about  2,500,000  in  number,  and  they  extract  from  that 
capillary  blood  the  colorless  fluid  we  call  perspiration 
or  sweat.  The  quantity  made  every  twenty-four 
hours  varies  from  one  and  a  half  to  nearly  four  and 
a  half  pints.  When,  as  is  generally  the  case,  this 
evaporates  as  rapidly  as  it  reaches  the  surface  it  is 
known  as  insensible  perspiration.  Visible  perspiration 
forms  only  when  the  secretion  is  so  very  profuse,  or 
the  air  is  so  charged  with  moisture,  that  more  mois- 
ture is  taken  up  with  difficulty  or  not  at  all.  The 
combination  of  heat  and  atmospheric  humidity  is 
sultriness,  and  on  a  sultry  day  perspiration  chngs  to 
the  skin.  Humidity  is  an  element  of  climate,  and 
its  oppressiveness  is  directly  proportioned  to  the 
atmospheric    moisture  which    interferes   with    cvapo- 


1 1 8  Personal  Hygiene 

ration  from  the  body  and  it  marks  one  of  the 
differences  between  Philadelphia  and  Denver,  for 
example,  in  the  summer.  The  odor  of  perspiration, 
lying  in  the  excreted  solids,  varies  with  the  race  and 
with  the  individual,  and  in  different  parts  of  the  same 
person.  It  is  probable  that  by  such  variation,  un- 
recognized by  our  duller  sense  of  smell,  the  lower 
animals,  especially  dogs,  differentiate  the  trails  of 
individual  men;  and  that  by  the  general  residuum  of 
the  perspiration  the  scent  of  game  is  formed.  The 
insensible  perspiration  goes  on  by  night  as  well  as  by 
day,  and  of  course  is  absorbed  by  the  bedclothes  as 
well  as  the  underclothing.  When  for  any  reason  the 
body  appreciably  perspires,  there  is  so  much  the  more 
to  be  taken  up.  Underclothing  that  is  to  be  worn 
the  next  day  should  therefore  be  freely  exposed  to  the 
air  when  it  is  taken  off;  and  the  proper  course  on  aris- 
ing is  distinctly  not  to  draw  the  bedding  back  in  place 
for  the  sake  of  appearance,  but  carefully  to  expose 
it  to  the  light  and  air  over  the  foot  of  the  bedstead 
or  on  chairs.  Bedclothing  hung  out  of  a  window  is 
not  attractive  to  the  passer-by,  but  it  is  a  sign  of 
hygienic  housekeeping.  The  more  frequently  under- 
clothing can  be  changed,  the  more  comfortable  and 
the  healthier  will  be  the  wearer. 

Perspiration  disposes  of  water  next  after  urine,  and 
sometimes  it  discharges  much  more.  Its  chief  function, 
however,  is  not  to  establish  an  equilibrium  of  fluids, 
but  to  regulate  animal  temperature.  The  action  of 
the  sweat-glands  depends  entirely  upon  the  nervous 


The  Elimination  of  Waste  1 1 9 

system,  and  neither  directly  upon  the  heat  of  the  body 
nor  upon  the  quantity  of  blood  near  the  surface. 
A  profuse  perspiration  may  break  out  on  a  cold  pallid 
skin,  and  in  a  fever  with  the  superficial  vessels  full  of 
blood  the  skin  itself  may  be  parched  and  dry.  Ordi- 
narily we  perspire  more  when  the  weather  is  warm 
because  external  heat  increases  the  nervous  irritability 
of  the  sweat-glands.  We  perspire  after  labor  because 
the  heat  generated  by  muscular  work  acts  as  an  irritant, 
and  the  swifter  circulation  sends  more  blood  through 
those  capillaries  in  a  given  time.  But  pain  or  fear  by 
reflex  action  may  cover  the  body  with  moisture,  and 
the  drenching  collic|uative  sweats  of  wasting  diseases 
follow  relaxation  of  nervous  tension. 

The  philosophy  of  cooling  by  perspiration  is  simple. 
Evaporation,  the  changing  of  a  fluid  to  a  more  rarefied 
state,  reduces  the  temperature  of  the  surface  acted 
upon,  as  illustrated  by  the  sensation  that  follows  the 
volatilization  of  a  little  ether  or  alcohol  from  the 
palm.  So  bathing  the  body  with  water,  whether 
poured  on  from  without  or  exuded  from  within,  cools 
it.  Although  the  perspiration  is  of  the  body- tempera- 
ture, its  evaporation  holds  that  temperature  in  check. 
Normally  the  skin  discharges  a  trifling  amount  of 
solids  in  solution,  as  recognizable  in  the  saltiness 
of  perspiration.  But  when  the  kidneys  are  inactive 
through  disease  this  special  excretion,  urea,  of  which 
ordinarily  there  is  but  a  trace  in  the  sweat,  is  greatly 
increased  therein.  The  impression  that  water  may 
be  absorbed  as  well  as  given  out  by  the  skin  seems  to 


I20  Personal  Hygiene 

depend  on  the  popular  and  erroneous  colander  doctrine. 
The  orifices  of  the  sweat-ducts  are  outlets,  not  intakes. 

Besides  the  sweat-glands  are  oil-glands  (sebaceous 
glands)  yielding  a  greasy  semi-fluid  secretion  which 
Oil'Slands  becomes  cheesy  after  exposure  to  the  air. 
sebaceous  These  are  generally  associated  with  the 
hair-follicles,  but  they  are  also  found  in 
hairless  regions.  When  near  a  hair-follicle  the  dis- 
charge escapes  upon  the  hair  as  it  passes  through  the 
skin.  This  physiological  protection  to  the  skin  should 
not  be  removed  too  completely.  Cleanliness  is  desir- 
able, but  not  too  much  daily  scrubbing.  It  is  not 
always  necessary  to  be  scraped  in  order  to  be  clean. 
The  oily  film  on  the  surface  should  be  removed  occa- 
sionally, not  continually.  This  does  not  militate  against 
a  daily  bath;  it  is  merely  a  caution  against  too  much 
subsequent  friction. 

An  obvious  illustration  of  sebaceous  secretion  in 
excess  is  the  so-called  flesh-worm  or  blackhead  of  the 
Blacks  face  and  back,  especially  in  dark-  and  coarse- 
heads  skinned  adolescents.  A  blackhead  is  the 
secretion  of  an  enlarged  and  stimulated  sebaceous 
gland  whose  canal  has  been  partly  blocked.  The 
black  points  are  not  dust  as  commonly  supposed 
(except  occasionally  with  the  very  careless),  but  are 
pigment  granules.  Annoying  as  they  are  to  the  eye, 
they  are  painless  and  perfectly  harmless,  and  usually 
disappear  at  maturity.  The  secretion  is  most  easily 
emptied  by  pressing  the  barrel  of  a  watch-key  over 
the  canal. 


The  Elimination  of  Waste         I2I 

Frequently  mingled  with  the  blackheads  in  the 
adolescent  age  are  the  pimples  known  as  acne.  To 
squeeze  or  handle  these  irritates  them. 
Pressing  out  the  contents  is  not  curative. 
The  bowels,  apt  to  be  sluggish,  should  be  attended 
to,  and  frequent  gentle  bathing  with  hot  water  and 
good  soap  is  helpful.  Permanent  relief  is  found 
through  patience  and  the  lapse  of  time. 

■  Warts  are  simply  overgrown  papillae  whose  density 
depends  upon  the  amount  of  the  epidermal  layer. 
Their  cause  is  not  clear,  but  usually  they 
may  be  removed  by  a  mild  caustic  system- 
atically and  not  too  vigorously  applied.  They  often 
disappear  spontaneously  and  there  is  no  ground  for  the 
superstition  that  they  are  communicable. 

Corns  begin  with  an  overgrowth  of  the  papillae,  but 
when  the  corneous  layer  becomes  predominant  the 
papilla  is  forced  down,  the  true  skin  wastes, 
the  fat  is  absorbed,  and  sometimes  a  pouch 
is  formed  below.  Corns  are  entirely  due  to  pressure 
and  friction,  generally  from  tight  shoes,  although 
occasionally  from  chafing  by  those  too  large.  Long- 
continued  pressure  may  set  up  an  inflammation,  some- 
times leading  to  suppuration.  They  are  ordinarily 
on  the  more  prominent  parts  of  the  foot,  but  the  so- 
called  soft  corn  occurs  on  the  inner  side  of  the  toes 
where  there  is  free  perspiration.  The  prevention  of 
corns  is  in  the  avoidance  of  pressure.  They  fre- 
quently arise  in  childhood  before  it  can  be  intelligently 
explained  where  the  shoe  pinches,  but  quite  as  often 


122  Personal  Hygiene 

they  are  created  or  intensified  by  vanity  and  ignorance 
forcing  a  growing  or  full-grown  foot  into  an  insufficient 
shoe.  Their  treatment  does  not  belong  to  this  sub- 
ject, but  where  there  has  been  no  pressure  there  will 

_  ..  .  be  none  to  treat.  A  callosity  or  modified 
Callosity  ■' 

corn  develops  on  various  parts  of  the  per- 
son from  mechanical  occupations,  and  it  sometimes 
points  out  the  trade  of  a  suspect. 

A  bunion,  much  more  formidable  than  a  corn,  is 
a  change  in  the  joint  of  the  great  toe  next  the  foot. 

„     .  The  toe  having  been  turned  inward  by  a 

Bunions  °  •  ,         , 

shoe  too  short  or  too  tight,  the  end  of  the 

bone  enlarges  from  the  irritation,  the  face  of  the  joint 

turns  outward  from  pressure,  and  a  sac  (bursa)  forms  on 

the  joint  surface.     When  inflamed  this  is  very  painful. 

The  efficient  use  of  the  foot  requires  the  weight  in 

walking  to  be  thrown  on  the  ball  rather  than  on  the 

heel,  which  cannot  be  done  if  this  important  joint  is 

crippled.     The  least  deviation  from  the  line  of  nature 

tends  to  increase,  and  the  changes  range  from  a  slight 

enlargement  at  the  joint  to  a  complete  change  of  cirec- 

tion  carrying  the  toe  across  the  others.     Pressure  always 

aggravates  it,  and  freedom  from  compression  keeps  it 

at  the  minimum.      Corns   and  bunions,  especially  if 

liable  to  inflammation,  should  be  protected  within  a 

roomy  shoe  by  a  ring  of  soft  felt  to  take  up  the  pressure. 

Blisters  of  the  foot,  usually  at  the  heel,  are  due  to 

^,.  \  friction  by  a  rough  shoe  or  a  wrinkled  stock- 

Blisters       .  ■'  ° 

ing.     The  fluid  should  be  allowed  to  escape 

through  a  minute  hole,  made  by  the  point  of  a  needle, 


The  Elimination  of  Waste  123 

at  the  most  dependent  point  and  the  skin  be  left  in 
place.  To  avoid  blisters  on  a  long  tramp,  the  shoes 
should  be  well-fitting  and  not  too  coarse,  and  the 
stockings  quite  smooth.  Sprinkling  the  inside  of  the 
stocking  with  a  foot-powder  whose  base  is  French 
chalk  and  salicylic  acid  is  a  good  preventive.  At  the 
end  of  the  walk  the  feet  should  not  be  soaked  in 
water,  but  be  wiped  carefully  with  a  damp  towel. 
To  grease  tender  feet  overnight  is  a  relief. 


XII 

Catching  Cold,  Swimming,  Bathing 

TN  common  speech  we  catch  cold  when  the  open 
"^  pores  are  exposed  to  a  draught,  or  to  general  low 
temperature.  These  "open  pores"  are  the  active 
Catching  perspiratory  glands  which  popular  opinion 
*^^^^  seems  to  regard  as  apertures  in  the  skin 

having  varying  degrees  of  patulousness.  Catching 
cold  is  in  effect  a  disturbance  of  capillary  equilibrium, 
so  that  the  blood  passes  in  excess  from  the  capillaries 
of  the  skin  to  those  of  the  lining  membranes,  some- 
times of  the  intestines  but  usually  of  the  respiratory 
organs.  Popularly  that  disturbance  means  the  sub- 
stitution of  cold  for  heat;  either  general,  as  when 
exertion  is  suspended  in  the  presence  of  cold  or  one 
passes  from  a  warm  room  into  cold  air,  or  local, 
when  by  a  current  of  air  or  otherwise  a  part  of  the 
body  is  cooled  more  than  the  remainder.  That  is 
frequently  the  case,  but  quite  as  many  common  colds 
are  contracted  by  entering  an  overheated  apartment 

from   biting    out-door    air.     The    ordinary    condition 

124 


Catching  Cold,  Swimming,  Bathing   125 

seems  to  be  that  a  disturbance  of  the  capillary  circu- 
lation of  the  skin  sets  up  a  counter-disturbance  in  the 
lining  membrane  of  the  nose  or  throat.  In  substituting 
general  cold  for  heat  the  capillaries  about  the  sweat- 
glands  are  suddenly  contracted  by  the  reflex  action 
of  the  cold  and  perspiration  is  checked,  but  the  capil- 
laries of  the  membranes  remain,  or  become,  engorged, 
and  leakage  of  serum  soon  ensues  because  the  other 
capillaries  are  not  prepared  to  maintain  their  share 
of  the  work.  Where  the  cold  is  locally  applied,  as 
to  the  feet  or  the  back  of  the  neck,  there  appears  to 
be  a  reflex  disturbance  of  some  regulating  centre  so 
that  the  membrane  of  the  nose,  for  instance,  receives 
more  blood  than  usual.  When  one  comes  from  the 
outer  cold,  with  all  the  superficial  capillaries  con- 
tracted, into  an  overheated  apartment,  it  is  generally 
after  out-door  exercise  has  rendered  the  circulation 
specially  active.  There  is  prompt  removal  of  the 
capillary  tension,  but  the  capillaries  of  the  skin  do 
not  respond  to  the  change  as  quickly  as  those  of  the 
membranes,  which  thus  become  engorged  and  "a 
cold "  results.  The  explanation  of  the  cause,  how- 
ever, is  of  less  importance  here  than  a  recognition  of 
the  condition  and  its  avoidance.  Entering  a  hot  room 
one  should  accommodate  himself  to  the  situation  by 
taking  off  his  wraps  slowly  and  by  degrees.  Submis- 
sion to  such  temporary  inconvenience  will  usually  re- 
sult in  escaping  a  probable  cold. 

The  most  usual  illustration  of  unequal  bodily  tem- 
perature leading  to  colds  is  wet  feet.      The  mistake 


I  26  Personal  Hygiene 

there  is  in  confusing  conditions.  Wlien  any  part  of 
Wet  the  body  at  rest  becomes  wet  and  there  is 

clothing  ^  local  reduction  of  temperature  in  conse- 
quence, harm  is  apt  to  follow.  But  exercise  usually 
counteracts  the  mischief,  as  common  observation  of 
hunters,  fishermen,  and  all  kinds  of  day-laborers 
shows.  The  real  danger  from  wet  clothing  in  general 
is  that  the  evaporation  from  large  surfaces  materially 
lowers  the  bodily  temperature,  so  that  reaction  from 
the  depression  is  difficult.  This  is  less  a  question  of 
catching  cold  than  of  serious  illness.  A  cold  wind  in- 
creases the  danger  from  wet  clothing.  Experienced 
frontiersmen  accidentally  immersed  in  severe  weather 
will  strip  and  dry  themselves  and  their  garments  by 
an  extemporized  fire,  regardless  of  the  temperature  of 
the  air,  in  preference  to  wearing  wet  clothes.  If  the 
temperature  is  not  very  low  one  may  trust  to  exercise; 
but  when  it  is  really  cold,  strip  and  dry. 

Adaptability,  however,  is  such  that  men  gradually  in- 
ured may  march  all  day  in  the  wet  and  sleep  under 
Sleeping  the  stars  in  moderate  weather,  merely  being 
outdoors  uncomfortable.  But  the  sensible  rule  for 
ordinary  life  is  to  substitute  dry  clothes  for  wet  ones 
when  exertion  ceases.  That  those  whose  general  health 
is  reduced  do  not  suffer  from  living  constantly  in  the 
outer  air  regardless  of  the  weather,  is  shown  in  the 
very  successful  treatment  of  those  consumptives  who 
are  kept,  warmly  clad,  always  out-of-doors.  It  is  a 
singular  and  not  entirely  explicable  fact  that  well  per- 
gons  who  spend  night  and  day  out  of  doors  not  only 


Catching  Cold,  Swimming,  Bathing    127 

are  much  less  liable  to  colds  while  thus  exposed,  but 
the  first  night  spent  in  a  house  is  almost  certainly  fol- 
lowed by  a  cold. 

The  liability  to  these  disagreeable  ailments  seems 
to  be  proportionate  to  the  sensitiveness  (not  the  deli- 
cacy) of  the  skin,  and  every  cold  makes  the  Avoidance 
way  easier  for  its  successor.  They  are  best  **^  colds 
avoided,  not  by  senseless  effort  at  "hardening  "  through 
insufficient  clothing,  but  by  keeping  the  body  com- 
fortably, not  excessively,  warm,  by  living  at  night  as 
well  as  by  day  in  well- ventilated,  not  draughty,  apart- 
ments, and  by  gradually  diminishing  the  sensibiHty 
of  the  skin  through  the  systematic  use  of  cool  baths. 
It  is  imperative  that  the  bowels  should  not  become 
constipated. 

There  is  another  class  of  colds,  not  distinguishable 
in  symptoms,  clearly  communicable  by  infection. 
That  is,  it  is  liable  to  be  contracted  through  infectious 
mere  association  with  a  person  already  ^^^^^ 
affected.  Such  a  cold  is  liable  to  run  through  a  family 
or  an  associated  group,  independently  of  exposure  to 
wet  or  draughts.  It  probably  depends  on  a  yet  un- 
identified bacillus. 

Connected    herewith    is    the  mischievous  every-day 
advice  not  to  go  in  swimming  while  warm  or  per- 
spiring.    Under  its  influence  boys  rush  to 
1  '111  ,      .    Swimming 

the  waterside  and,  dressed  or  undressed,  sit 

still,  hot  and  perspiring,  to  cool  as  rapidly  as  pos- 
sible, a  course  naturally  productive  of  colds  or  worse. 
The    proper   course   is  to   strip   quickly,  plunge   in, 


128  Personal  Hygiene 

and  swim.  To  swim  is  necessary.  Merely  to  bathe 
or  to  paddle  in  the  shallows  when  hot  is  hazardous. 
Swimming  is  good  active  exercise  well  calculated  to 
keep  the  blood  moving  rapidly  and  to  counteract 
the  chill  of  any  water  at  all  fit  to  swim  in.  It  is  of 
no  consequence  whether  one  is  perspiring  or  not  on 
going  into  deep  water,  provided  one  swims  vigorously 
at  once.  But  it  is  a  very  different  and  it  may  be  a 
very  serious  affair  to  remove  one's  clothes  when  hot 
and  passively  stand  or  sit  in  the  water.  No  one  when 
cold  should  go  into  water  for  swimming  or  bathing 
— unless  it  be  hot  water — nor  remain  in  the  water  after 
the  faintest  sign  of  chilliness.  There  is  frequent 
temptation  to  do  so,  but  always  at  serious  risk.  To 
remain  in  the  water,  whether  in  a  tub  or  in  the  sea, 
long  enough  to  feel  cold  is  wrong.  Blue  lips  and 
chattering  teeth  are  a  challenge  to  congestion  and  a 
defiance  of  Providence.  Powers  of  resistance  differ 
so  much  that  it  is  impossible  to  lay  down  rules  as  to 
the  time  of  immersion.  The  limit  of  endurance  in 
this  respect  for  a  dozen  men  is  no  more  identical  than 
would  be  their  strength  for  lifting  weights,  or  their 
speed  upon  the  track,  and  in  rivalry  there  may  be 
danger.  Women,  especially  young  women,  who  swim 
frequently  can  remain  in  the  water  longer  than  men 
because  of  their  non-conducting  fat;  and  it  is  folly 
for  a  man  to  risk  illness  through  false  pride  in  com- 
petition with  them.  A  man  of  any  age  who  begins 
to  feel  cold  should  leave  the  water  without  delay, 
and  if  it  is  desirable  should  frankly  give  the  reason. 


Catching  Cold,  Swimming,  Bathing   1 29 

Younger  persons  whenever  in  the  water  should  be 
carefully  watched  by  those  responsible  for  them,  and 
be  sent  out  promptly  on  the  slightest  sign  of 
chilliness. 

Surf-bathing,  being  knocked  about  by  the  breakers, 
is  much  more  exhausting  than  it  seems  to  those  ex- 
hilarated by  its  novelty,  and  novices  should 
1      1        11.  ,  rx.,        ,      ,.         .  Sea-bathing 

husband  their  endurance.  The  chief  sani- 
tary advantage  of  sea-bathing  is  this  concussion  by 
the  surf,  being  smitten  and  showered  upon  by  a  hundred 
points  of  spray  with  the  body  wrought  up  physically 
in  withstanding  the  waves.  The  salt  is  a  stimulant 
chiefly  in  increasing  the  density  of  the  water  driven 
against  one,  and  the  hygienic  value  of  "sea-salt," 
advertised  for  the  tub,  is  nothing. 

Delightful  as  swimming  is  as  an  accomplishment 
and  valuable  as  it  is  as  an  art,  the  ears  may  be  readily 
damaged  by  deep  diving,  by  swimming  too  care  of 
far  under  water,  or  by  exposing  them  to  ^^^  ^^''^ 
the  force  of  the  surf.  The  delicacy  of  hearing  is  very 
readily  disturbed  and  the  organ  itself  may  easily  be  hurt. 
Whoever  is  much  under  water  should  carefully  guard 
his  cars  by  using  unwashed  wool.  Wool  from  which 
the  oil  has  not  been  removed  retains  its  elasticity  and 
is  much  better,  under  all  circumstances,  for  use  in 
the  car  than  cotton,  which  packs  whenever  it  is  damp. 
Those  conscious  that  their  ears  are  delicate  or  unsound 
should  take  this  precaution  before  entering  the  water 
at  all. 

Swimming  is  not  undertaken  primarily  for  the  sake 


130  Personal  Hygiene 

of  cleanliness.     That  is  one  of  the  functions  of  the 

bath.  Cold  water  alone  is  not  particularly 
Baths  ,         .  T^  1  M        1  •       • 

cleansing.     Poured    over    an    oily    skin    it 

flows  off  uncontaminated.  But  to  most  persons  cold 
water,  especially  in  the  form  of  a  shower  when  the 
atmosphere  is  temperate,  is  a  delightful  stimulant. 
But  neither  the  very  young,  the  aged,  nor  the  truly 
delicate  can  endure  the  shock  of  immersion  in  cold 
water.  Such  persons  can  secure  the  most  of  the 
benefit  of  a  cold  bath  by  standing  with  the  feet  in  tepid 
water  and  pouring  cold  water  from  a  large  sponge  over 
the  body.  The  extremities  remain  warm  while  the  stimu- 
lant effect  of  the  cold  is  obtained.  The  interior  tem- 
perature of  the  human  body  is  100°  F.,  and  the  conven- 
tional temperatures  of  the  various  baths  are  as  follows : 
cold,  below  65°;  cool,  65°-8o°;  tepid,  8o°-9o°;  warm, 
90^-99°;  hot,  above  99°  F.     The  immediate  effect  of  a 

_  .  .  cold  bath  is  to  contract  the  superficial  capil- 
Cold  bath  .  .  ^ 

laries  and  to  drive  the  blood  inward.  Breath- 
ing is  deepened,  at  first  quickened  and  then  slowed; 
the  circulation  is  slightly  retarded;  the  temperature 
very  slightly  lowered.  The  nervous  system  and  espe- 
cially the  mental  faculties  are  immediately  and  power- 
fully stimulated,  probably  by  the  influx  of  blood  un- 
accompanied by  any  morbid  condition.  Reaction 
should  occur  immediately  upon  leaving  the  bath,  when 
the  capillaries  and  the  small  arteries  dilate,  the  skin 
flushes,  and  there  is  a  general  sense  of  warmth  and  well- 
being.  Such  reaction  is  the  test  of  whether  the  bath 
is  well  borne.     It  may  be  aided  by  brisk  rubbing  down 


Catching  Cold,  Swimming,  Bathing   131 

with  a  coarse  towel.  Apart  from  this  agreeable  reac- 
tion, there  is  almost  complete  immunity  against  catch- 
ing cold  in  those  who  take  such  a  bath  daily. 

The  hot  bath  also  is  stimulating  at  first.     The  super- 
ficial capillaries  dilate  promptly.     The  circulation  is 

quickened:  perspiration  is  excited :  the  skin     „  ,.     . 
,,  .  1     .  Hot  bath 

easily  parts  with  its  worn-out  layers;    the 

stiffened  and  wearied  muscles  are  relaxed;  the  joints 
become  more  flexible;  the  sense  of  fatigue  yields  to 
one  of  satisfaction;  and  for  the  time  the  brain  is  more 
alert.  This  is  soon  followed  by  a  happy  sense  of 
languor  and  drowsiness,  and  if  maintained  longer 
sleep  is  apt  to  follow.  There  is  no  single  agent  that 
gives  such  complete  relief  after  fatigue,  or  that  me- 
chanically removes  so  well  the  effects  of  labor.  It 
does  not  take  the  place  of  food  or  sleep  in  overcoming 
fatigue,  but  it  is  an  admirable  prelude  to  each.  When 
followed  by  a  cold  bath  there  is  a  marked  revival  of 
energy.  The  hot  bath  is  often  used  for  its  secondary 
relaxing  effect  in  some  forms  of  sickness,  especially 
with  children.  This  is  referred  to  here  only  to  impress 
the  caution  that  the  cold  faucet  should  always  be;  opened 
first,  and  that  in  testing  the  temperature,  in  the  absence 
of  a  thermometer,  the  elbow  and  not  the  hand  should 
be  used.  The  hand  is  too  insensitive  to  judge  for  the 
more  delicate  skin  of  the  body. 
To  wash  properly,  in  distinction  from  bathing,  tepid 

or  warm  water  and  soap,  but  not  too  much     .,,    . , 

.     ,        o  ,  .  .  .  ,       Washing 

soap,  are  required.      Soap  by  uniting  with 

the  natural  or  acquired  grease  on  the  skin  makes  it 


132  Pergonal  Hygiene 

soluble.  When  in  excess  it  removes  too  much,  for 
unless  it  is  replaced  very  rapidly  a  little  of  the  pro- 
tecting oil  should  remain.  Good  soap,  soft  water,  and 
a  fairly  coarse  towel  carry  off  the  worn-out  surface-skin 
in  rolls. 

The  simpler  soaps  are  the  best,  the  type  being  castile. 
Highly  scented  cheap  soaps  are  always  to  be  avoided, 

for  the  perfume  is  liable  to  conceal  rancid 
Soap  ^ 

fats.      This  does  not  apply  to  the  delicately 

perfumed  high-grade  soaps,  which  on  the  other  hand 
are  too  costly  for  common  bathroom  use.  For  irri- 
table skins  much  pains  should  be  taken  to  select  a 
soap  with  no  free  alkali,  usually  best  determined  by 
experiment.  The  so-called  medicated  soaps  are  of 
little  value,  for  the  soap  does  not  remain  long  enough 
in  contact  with  the  skin  for  any  remedy  to  be  effective. 

For  purposes  of  cleansing  a  quart  of  water  properly 
applied  is  as  useful,  although  not  as  convenient,  as  a 
tubful;  and  a  hot  bath  is  a  luxury  rather  than  a 
necessity.  If  an  entire  bath  cannot  be  taken,  the 
feet  should  be  carefully  washed  daily,  preferably  before 
retiring,  and  prodigality  would  better  expend  itself 
in  stockings  than  in  neckties. 

When  the  bath  is  neglected  the  body  slowly  ac- 
quires a  musty  odor  and  the  clothes  become  offensive. 
This  proceeds  so  gradually  that  the  subject  himself  is 
not  always  aware  of  it,  and  his  own  senses  may  be 
quite  unconscious  of  his  offensiveness  to  his  neighbor. 
Such  a  caution  can  be  required  by  only  one,  if  any, 
of   a   multitude   newly  gathered  from  heterogeneous 


Catching  Cold,  Swimming,  Bathing    133 

homes  with  scholarship  as  the  only  common  standard. 
To  avoid  being  that  one  too  much  care  cannot  be 
taken  to  not  transgress  against  the  straitest  rule  of 
bodily  purity.  It  is  a  physical  quite  as  much  as  a 
moral  rule  that  it  is  the  first  deviation  from  the  right 
v^ay  which  opens  the  undesirable  course. 

Reference  has  previously  been  made  to  the  occa- 
sional afifliction  of  foetid  feet.     There  the  sweat-glands 

are  abnormal  and  secrete  a  horribly  off  en-     „. .  .    . 

■'  nidriosis 

sive  perspiration.  Those  people  are  not 
unclean.  Usually  they  are  scrupulously  stainless  in 
their  persons,  but  the  secretion  is  tainted  at  the  foun- 
tain. They  change  their  stockings  with  great  fre- 
quency and  also  change  and  ventilate  their  shoes; 
but  they  suffer  from  a  disease,  not  a  condition  to  be 
remedied  at  will,  and  it  may  be  alleviated,  if  at  all, 
only  by  medical  advice  of  the  first  quality. 


xin 

Clothing 

/''^LOTHING    is    primari'y    designed    to    promote 

^"^     health  and  comfort  by  protection  against  wet, 

by  conserving  bodily  heat  in  low  temperatures,  and 

^. .    ^  by  shielding  against  solar  heat.     As  worn 

Object  -^    .  .        .  ... 

during  exercise,  it  should  mmimize  the  heat 

thus  generated.  Its  secondary  objects  are  decency 
and  attractiveness.  Warmth  is  not  an  intrinsic  qual- 
ity of  clothing.     If  two  blocks  of  inanimate  matter 

are  dressed,  under  the  same  atmospheric 
Warmth  .  .  ^ 

conditions  and  out  of  the  sun's  rays,  one 
in  woolen  or  fur  and  the  other  in  muslin  or  paper, 
and  their  sensible  temperature  is  measured  after  a 
definite  period,  there  will  be  found  no  change  in  it 
due  to  the  clothing.  The  temperature  of  both  ob- 
jects will  closely  correspond  to  that  of  the  surrounding 
air.  When  clothing  adds  to  the  heat  of  the  body,  it 
is  by  absorption  directly  from  the  sun's  rays.  But 
Tempera=    although   neither   warm  nor  cool   intrinsi- 

tion  as         cally,    clothing    conserves    animal   heat    or 

depending  . 

upon  allows    it    to    escape    freely    by    radiation. 

c  o    ing       Clothing  is  only  warm  in  the  sense  that  it 

retains,  not  creates,  caloric.     That  is  a  quality  of  the 

134 


Clothing  i^g 

material  and  is  not  influenced  by  the  solar  rays.  But 
independently  of  material,  when  in  those  rays  color 
causes  a  marked  difference  in  their  absorption.  Thus,  in 
the  sun  black  takes  up  the  most,  blue  the  next,  and  so 
down  the  scale  to  white,  which  absorbs  the  least. 
The  difference  between  white  and  black  in  the  sun 
may  be  ten  degrees.  A  thin  white  cotton  tissue  over 
a  black  coat  has  reduced  the  temperature  in  fierce 
rays  of  the  sun,  as  compared  with  a  coat  not  thus 
covered,  by  i2°.6  F.  This  may  be  demonstrated  by 
exposing  to  the  sun  upon  a  bank  of  snow  equal  sur- 
faces of  identical  cloth  colored  differently  (Franklin). 
The  relative  sinking  of  these  in  the  snow  shows  their 
comparative  absorption  of  the  solar  heat.  It  is  felt, 
if  not  seen,  by  those  who  wear  black  instead  of  white 
hats  or  coats  in  the  sun.  White  clothes  are  therefore 
worn  'ogically  in  the  tropics  or  during  our  own  summers. 
Color  also  determines  the  conspicuousness  of  clothing, 
background  being  a  contributing  factor.  The  order  in 
which  colors  are  observed  over  a  neutral  Conspicu=. 
ground  is  red,  white,  black  or  dark  blue,  o"sness 
butternut,  dust-gray,  olive-drab.  Surveyors'  flags  and 
railroal  signals  are  chosen  on  this  principle.  Cloth- 
ing absorbs  odors  partly  on  account  of  its  color  and 
partly  from  its  hygroscopic  quality.  Black  takes  up 
the  most,  blue  the  next,  and  white  the 
least.  A  material  is  hygroscopic  as  it  ab- 
sorbs moisture  within  its  fibre.  Exact  experiments  to 
show  the  relative  absorption  of  odors  by  different 
materials    of    the    same    color    arc    wanting.     Where 


136  Personal  Hygiene 

texture  is  identical  the  absorption-order  is  black,  blue, 
red,  green,  yellow,  white.  Hence  black  is  the  worst 
and  white  is  the  best  color  to  be  worn  where  odors 
abound.  Probably  morbific  emanations  are  taken 
up  more  readily  by  the  black  and  moisture-absorbing 
dresses  of  amateurs,  and  least  by  the  light- colored 
and  non- absorbent  gowns  of  professional  nurses. 

The  ordinary  materials  for  clothing  are  cotton, 
linen,  woolen,  silk,  leather,  and,  for  occasion,  india- 
rubber.  The  ultimate  fibres  of  cotton  and  linen  are 
Cotton  and  very  hard  and  durable,  very  slightly  hy- 
linen  groscopic,    and   are   very  good    conductors 

of  heat.  Hygienically  they  are  of  equal  quality. 
The  body  generates  heat  in  proportion  to  its  exertion; 
but  in  health  the  temperature  to  be  maintained  should 
not  exceed  98°.4  F.  near  the  surface,  or  100°  F. 
within.  Hence  the  warmer  the  external  temperature 
the  less  of  this  self-generated  heat  should  be  retained; 
but  the  cooler  the  air,  the  less  rapidly  it  should  be 
dissipated.  Nature's  cooling  process  is  by  the  evap- 
oration of  perspiration,  which  continues  after  the 
exercise  which  induced  it  has  ceased.  Both  cotton 
and  linen  easily  become  wet,  but  they  are  only  slightly 
hygroscopic,  and  so  do  not  well  take  up  the  water. 
That  is,  it  passes  through  them  and  evaporates.  This 
evaporation  would  readily  chill  a  person  at  rest.  Be- 
sides, both  cotton  and  linen,  even  when  dry,  allow 
the  heat  of  the  body  to  radiate  rapidly;  that  is,  they 
are  good  conductors.  Consequently  they  are  not 
suited   as  the  only  clothing,  either  when  there  may 


Clothing  137 

be  perspiration  or  when  mere  exposure  to  dry  cold  is 
probable.  The  wearers  of  mere  cotton  or  linen  risk 
their  health  according  to  the  degree  of  perspiration, 
to  the  temperature  of  the  air,  and  to  their  personal 
power  of  resistance.  This  power  of  physical  re- 
sistance represents  the  distinction  between  individuals. 
Usually  it  is  overestimated,  which  leads  to  serious  risk; 
and  inappropriate  clothing  should  not  add  to  the  chance 
of  harm. 

Wool  conducts  heat  badly  and  absorbs  water  freely: 
(i)  by  absorption  within  its  fibres  (hygroscopic  water); 

and  (2)    as  it  lies  between  them  (water  of  „,     . 

^  ^  ^  Wool 

interposition).     The     water     between     the 

fibres  gives  the  sense  of  dampness,  and  the  most  of 
this  can  be  removed  by  pressure.  But  the  water  that 
enters  the  fibres  themselves  (hygroscopic  water)  gives 
no  sense  of  dampness,  and  little  of  it  can  be  expelled 
by  wringing.  Wool  absorbs  water  twice  in  propor- 
tion to  its  weight  and  four  times  in  proportion  to 
its  surface,  as  compared  with  cotton  or  linen.  By 
taking  up  its  moisture  it  counteracts  the  evaporation 
from  consecutive  perspiration.  As  the  vapor  from 
the  body  is  condensed  by  dry  woolen  clothing,  the 
heat  that  would  become  latent  when  the  perspiration 
passes  off  insensibly  is  released.  This  creates  the  sense 
of  comfort  felt  when  a  woolen  garment  is  put  on  while 
the  body  is  cooling  rapidly  after  sharp  exercise,  be- 
cause the  further  evaporation  from  the  cloth  proceeds 
slowly  and  there  is  not  the  chilling  effect  of  the  cling- 
ing vegetable  tissues.     This  is  the  philosophy  of  the 


138  Personal  Hygiene 

sweater.  That  all  laborers,  even  enginemen,  Wear 
flannel  shirts  shows  that  experience  and  theory  agree. 
Wool  is  neither  easily  penetrated  by  cold  winds  nor 
readily  conducts  heat  from  the  body;  so  that  while 
it  is  comfortable  in  cold,  it  is  oppressive  in  warm, 
climates.  When,  as  rarely  happens,  woolen  clothing 
becomes  saturated  with  perspiration,  the  water  of 
interposition  may  be  wrung  out,  so  that  it  will  serve 
anew  for  condensation  and  absorption.  A  full  suit 
of  woolen  underwear,  neither  too  closely  clinging  nor 
too  coarse,  is  the  most  comfortable  and  safest  dress 
in  the  so-called  temperate  zone  for  nine  months  in 
the  year,  and  light  wool  is  better  worn  over  the  chest 
and  abdomen  the  whole  year  round  and  the  wide 
world  over.  The  shrinkage  of  vi^ool  in  washing  is 
best  avoided  by  mixing  with  it  about  thirty  per  cent, 
cotton.  The  trade  name  of  this  is  merino.  Flannel 
Flannel,  is  a  loosely  woven  woolen,  chiefly  used  for 
®**^*  undergarments.     "Flannelette"  and  "sani- 

tary flannel"  are  practically  cotton.  "Canton"  flan- 
nel ("cotton  flannel")  is  cotton,  not  woolen,  with  a 
long  soft  nap  on  one  or  both  sides.  Serge  and  worsted 
are  light  woolens  easily  permeable  by  air,  and  have 
the  good  qualities  of  the  lesser  woolens.  Any  closely 
woven  cloth  takes  up  dust  less  readily  and  parts  with 
it  more  easily  than  that  of  loose  structure.  Shoddy 
is  old,  used  and  worked-over  wool  and  cloth.  Blankets 
and  garments  made  from  it  tear  easily  and  wear  badly. 
Mixed  with  fresh  wool  it  is  a  common  fraudulent 
ingredient   in   contract  goods   and   low-grade   ready- 


Clothing  139 

made  clothes.     Silk,  of  animal  origin,  sometimes  used 

for  shirts  and  pajamas,  is  not  common  for 

Silk 

men's    wear    because    of    its    cost.      It    is 

highly   hygroscopic   and    a   poor   conductor   of   heat. 

Rather  curiously  it  is  subject  to  complete  substitution, 

as  well  as  to  adulteration.     Pure  silk  is  practically 

noiseless,  and  when  it  rustles,  as  often  represented  in 

fiction,    cotton    has    been    added.     Leather,    besides 

being  a  good  covering  for  the  feet,  is  an 

Leather 

admirable   emergency  dress   in   dry,    cold, 

and  windy  climates.  Tanned  with  the  fur  or  wool  on, 
which  assists  in  turning  water,  no  material  can  com- 
pare with  it  in  resisting  cold.  Leather  is  not  air-tight 
and  it  permits  the  insensible  perspiration  to  trans- 
pire, but  as  a  bad  conductor  it  retains  the  heat  of 
the  body.  Patent  leather  is  so  varnished  as  to  be  air- 
tight and  water-tight,  and  hence  is  inappropriate  for 
prolonged  wearing.  India-rubber  has  a  temporary 
but  invaluable  use  against  rain,  but  it  re-  India- 
tains  the  heat  and  perspiration  of  the  body  rubber 
so  effectually  that  it  should  not  be  worn  persistently. 
Neither  should  any  water-proof  clothing  be  worn  con- 
stantly. In  outdoor  life  india-rubber  has  very  great 
value  as  a  protective  against  ground-moisture. 

Poisonous    dyes    are    occasionally    absorbed    with 
serious  results  from  wet  clothes,  when  these  come  in 

contact  with  the  skin.     Aniline  dyes,  black  _ 

^  Dyes 

as  well  as  bright,  may  be  absorbed  from 

both  shoes  and  stockings  when  worn  on  hot  and  moist 

feet.     Aniline    black    destroys    the    oxygen- carrying 


140  Personal  Hygiene 

capacity  of  the  red  corpuscles,  an  evil  that  requires 
no  commentary.  The  brilliant  colors,  fixed  by  irri- 
tant minerals,  as  arsenic,  may  disturb  the  skin,  and 
deaths  from  their  absorption  through  abrasions  are 
not  unknown.  Low-grade  white  collars  and  some 
hat  sweat-bands  occasionally  irritate  from  a  contained 
chemical,  in  which  case  they  should  be  discarded. 
Paper  collars  may  contain  arsenic.     Celluloid,  as  used 

^  ..  .  ..  in  collars  and  cuffs,  is  highly  inflammable 
Celluloid  ,      ,  ,    1  / 

and   also  may  explode  under  great  heat. 

Red  flannel  acts  on  some  skins  as  a  mild  irritant,  and 
hence  has  acquired  a  reputation  against  the  stiffness 
and  pain  commonly  called  muscular  rheumatism. 
Paper  conserves  heat  so  excellently  that  it 
is  valuable  as  an  extra  sole  within  the  shoe, 
as  an  additional  blanket  stitched  to  ordinary  ones, 
or  as  a  cuirass  outside  the  undershirt. 

In  moderate  climates  to  dispense  with  a  covering 
for  the  head  probably  conduces  to  the  vigorous  growth 
of  the  hair  and  to  general  health.  But  extremes  of 
heat  and  cold  must  be  protected  against.  All  ex- 
posure, even  when  not  extreme,  coarsens  the  skin  and 
hair;  and  a  certificate  of  tan  as  to  summer  absence 
from  town  ultimately  reduces  a  delicate  complexion 
to  a  rough  brown  coat.     To  go  hatless  in  a  sunny 

„  ^  climate  further  disfigures  either  sex  by  a 

Hats  ,  .     ,   .  .         ,  / 

scowl  acquired  m  protectmg  the  eye  from 

glare.     No  hat  should  be  tight  enough  to  interfere 

with  the  full  supply  of  blood  to  the  scalp.     The  head 

ghould  not  remain  covered  within  doors,  because  it 


Clothing  141 

would  be  kept  too  warm  and  the  hair  be  ill-ventilated. 
Appropriately  made  and  used,  the  silk  hat  has  the 
advantage  of  being  light,  of  having  abundant  air-space, 
and  in  this  country  of  being  worn  only  by  those  not 
much  exposed.  Its  usual  color  and  the  possible  danger 
of  constricting  the  scalp  are  its  chief  disadvantages, 
and  it  should  not  be  worn  under  our  midsummer 
sun.  The  derby  is  so  full  of  sanitary  defects  as  to 
be  properly  tolerable  only  for  those  whose  hair  is 
beyond  redemption  and  their  skulls  resistant  to  ill 
usage.  Every  stiff  hat  should  be  moulded  to  the 
head  before  it  is  worn,  and  under  hot  sun  it  should 
not  be  black.  A  soft  hat  of  light  color,  to  be  in  summer 
of  light  flexible  straw,  in  cold  weather  of  wool  or  fur, 
is  more  comfortable  and  more  sanitary. 

Collars  are  comfortable  agents  of  cleanliness,  which 
should  never  be  tight  nor  interfere  with  the  downward 

flow  of  blood  through  the  veins.     The  heavy  ^,    , 

°  .  .    -^  Neck-wear 

woolen  mufHer  bathes  the  neck  in  perspira- 
tion and  makes  it  sensitive,  so  that  after  irregular  and 
partial  contact  with  the  air,  colds  follow.  There  is  no  ob- 
jection to  a  light  temporary  wrap  across  the  chest  when 
an  open  coat  replaces  a  close  one  in  severe  weather, 
nor  to  a  heavy  kerchief  for  strictly  temporary  use,  but 
habitually  to  swathe  the  neck  in  wool  is  pernicious. 

A  chamois  or  buckskin  chest-protector,  perforated, 
may   be    worn    by    the    delicate    in    severe  protection 
weather,  and  the  back  of  the  chest  should  *o«"  the 
not  be  neglected  as    it    frequently  is.     All 
clothing  over  the  body  should  be  so  loose  as  not  to 


142  Personal  Hygiene 

present  to  the  chest-walls  the  least  constriction.     Even 

the  light  pressure  of  suspenders  tends  to  make   the 

shoulders  round  and  the  chest  contracted,  and  for  the 

Suspenders  young  they  are  undesirable.      In  a  normal 

and  belts     youth  with  normal  hips  the  trousers  should 

be  sustained  by  a  broad,  moderately  tight  belt  above 

those  bones.     But  it  is  better  to  depend  on  suspenders 

than  to  wear  a  really  tight  belt,  for  the  abdomen  should 

not  be  constricted.     Trousers,  and  particularly  draw- 

^  ers,  should  not  bind  across  the  seat  nor  in 

Trousers 

the  joints.     Socks  or  stockings  should  be 

suited  to  the  season,  and  if  not  sufficiently  elastic  to  re- 
main in  place  should   be  suspended.     There  should 

^^    ,  .         be  no  excuse  to  tie  anything  around  the 
Stockings  .  . 

leg,  for  fear  of  interference  with  the  cir- 
culation. Woolen  stockings  are  not  suited  for  those 
who  perspire  freely.  In  such  cases  the  feet  become 
damp  and  grow  chilly  when  exercise  ceases.     Although 

,,,  ^  ^    X     uncomfortable,  wet  feet  are  rarely  hurtful 
Wet  feet  .  ... 

to  a  man  in  good  health  who  is  taking  active 

exercise,  excepting  under  excessive  cold.     In  extreme 

low  temperature,  for  the  body  to  be  wet  at  all  is  hurt-, 

ful;    and   the  greater  the  surface   that  is  wetted  the 

more  serious  the  risk.     A  poor  shoe  inevitably  cripples 

the  foot,  either  for  the  time  or  permanently.     Every 

^.  shoe  should  be  large  enough  for  the  foot 

Shoes  .  .  o  & 

m  walking  to  expand  one-tenth  in  length 
and  more  in  breadth.  But  when  too  large,  bhsters 
and  chafes  follow;  and  corns,  bunions,  and  serious 
displacements  of  the  toes  are  due  to  ill-fitting  shoes. 


Clothing  143 

To  have  room  over  the  toes  for  expansion  in  both 
directions  is  particularly  important.  High  heels  dis- 
turb the  level  and  may  distort  the  symmetry  of  the 
pelvis,  and  are  specially  harmful  to  the  young.  To 
go  barefoot  in  a  suitable  climate  assures  normal  feet 
for  children. 

The  abdominal  protector  is  a  valuable  addition  to 
ordinary  clothing,  not  only  for  torrid  climates  but 
under  either  extreme  of  heat  or  cold  in  the  Abdominal 
temperate  zones.  It  is  an  apron  of  two  P^'otector 
thicknesses  of  soft  flannel,  worn  next  the  skin,  sus- 
pended from  a  tape  tied  around  the  waist.  In  that 
form  it  lies  smooth  and  is  comfortable.  As  a  belt, 
as  frequently  supplied,  it  rolls  up  and  is  uncomfort- 
able. Its  purpose  is  to  equalize  the  intestinal  circu- 
lation, which  is  liable  to  derangement  with  consequent 
sickness,  in  either  very  hot  or  very  cold  weather.  The 
protector  should  be  worn  by  night  and  by  day,  and 
its  constant  use  shields  against  that  form  of  diarrhoea 
which  follows  exposure  to  prolonged  heat,  especially 
when  the  nights  are  relatively  cool. 


XIV 

Food 

"C^OOD  repairs  the  body's  ordinary  wear  and  tear 
and  supplies  material  for  tissue  in  those  still 
growing.  "Force  manifested  in  the  living  body  must 
be  the  correlative  expression  of  force  previously  latent 
in  the  food  eaten  or  in  the  tissue  formed."  That  is, 
food  provides  for  growth  and  repair  and  enables  work 
to  be  accomplished  and  heat  to  be  generated.  Normal 
appetite  and  hunger  are  to  be  gratified  and 
allayed  in  the  interest  of  health.  There 
should  be  an  interval  of  four  or,  better,  six  hours 
between  meals,  for  the  recuperation  of  energy  expended 
in  digestion.  The  better  practice  is  three  meals  in 
the  twenty-four  hours,  although  for  a  few  mature* 
persons  two  seem  siifhcient.  Exhaustion  from  over- 
Fatigue  or  work  or  prolonged  fasting  manifests  itself 
fasting  jjj  ^]^g  digestive  apparatus,  so  that  indi- 
gestion follows  the  failure  of  the  proper  fluids  to  be 
secreted.  Food  taken  by  force  of  will  when  one  is 
"too  tired  to  eat"  generally  leads  to  nausea  or  dys- 
pepsia, and  a  necessary  caution  in  those  reduced  by 

starvation  is  to  supply  the  most  digestible  food  in 

144 


Food  145 

the  smallest  quantities.     The  use  of  alcohol,  whether 

disguised    as    vegetable    bitters    or    taken 

more  openly,  before  meals  by  men  whose 

stomachs  are  jaded  by  overwork  or  who  are  run  down 

by  daily  nervous  strain,  to  stir  the  enervated  stomach 

into  action,  induces  an  ultimate  condition  worse  than 

that  for  which  its  aid  was  invoked.     A  hearty  meal 

should    not    be    eaten    within    two    hours  ^, 

Sleep 

before  bedtime;    but  this  does  not  forbid 
a  glass  of  milk  and  a  few  biscuits,  or  even  a  little  well- 
masticated   cheese.     A  little  digestible  food  may  be 
taken  by  light  sleepers  with  advantage  in  an  interval 
of  wakefulness. 

Food  supplies  material,  energy,  and  animal  heat, 
partly  directly  and  partly  by  restoring  expended 
material.  It  is  divided  roughly  into  pro-  classes  of 
teids  and  albuminoids,  grouped  as  nitroge-  ^^^^^ 
nous;  the  carbohydrates  and  fats,  non-nitrogenous; 
the  inorganic  mineral  salts,  and  water.  Practically 
nearly  every  food  contains  more  or  less  of  various 
classes,  whose  preponderance  alone  places  it  in 
one  group  or  the  other.  The  construction  of  tissue 
is  carried  on  by  the  proteids,  the  mineral  substances, 
and  water  alone;  all  the  organic  constituents  (that  is, 
the  non- mineral)  evolve  energy;  and  cell  life  pro- 
duces heat.  The  proteid  foods  are  casein  _,  ^  .. 
^  Proteids 

of  milk,  myosin  of  muscle,  gluten  of  flour, 

legumin  of  beans,  peas,  and  other  pulses.  In  other 
words,  flesh,  milk,  bread,  and  leguminous  plants  are 
chiefly,  but  not  wholly,  proteids.     Albuminoid  food, 


146  Personal  Hygiene 

as  a  descriptive  class,  is  limited  to  the  non- nutritious 
Albumin  gelatines,  although  retained  by  some  writers 
"®'"^  as  a  synonym  of  proteid.     Besides  the  pro- 

teids,  the  energy- makers  (the  heat  and  work  producers) 
are  the  albuminoids,  sugars  and  starches  (carbo- 
hydrates), and  fats.  Of  these  the  proteids  alone  supply 
both  tissue  and  energy  and,  witness  the  South  Amer- 
ican Indians,  lean  meat  and  water  are  adequate  for 
the  support  of  an  active  life.  The  various  proteids 
are  similar,  not  identical,  and  have  in  common  nitrogen 
and  a  little  sulphur  as  their  characteristics.  When  the 
nitrogen  is  cut  off,  the  various  functions  gradually 
languish  as  the  reserve  in  store  becomes  exhausted. 

Energy  and  strength  are  not  identical.  Energy 
belongs  to  the  nervous  system,  strength  to  the  mus- 
cles (Hutchison).  In  that  sense  nitrogen 
is  essential  to  energy,  and  intellectual  ca- 
pacity and  bodily  vigor  are  only  found  among  those 
using  an  essentially  nitrogenous  diet.  Starches  and 
Starch  and  sugars  are  found  in  varying  proportions  in 
sugar  ^jj  vegetables.     Before  transformation  into 

animal  tissues  the  starch  and  cane-sugar  are  changed 
partly   by   cookery,   partly  by   digestion,   into  grape- 

^.  sugar.     A  part  of  this  is  still  further  con- 

Qlycogen         ^  ^ 

verted  mto  animal  starch  (glycogen)   and 

stored  as  a  reserve.     The  surplus  of  this  sugar  makes 

fat,    and    that    sweets    in    excess    are    fattening   is 

notorious. 

The  fats  and  oils  of  food  are  of  both  animal  and 

vegetable  origin.     As  stored  in  the  body,  fat  is  de- 


Food  147 

rived  chiefly  from  the  starches  and  sugars;  and,  curi- 
ously, there  is  no  positive  evidence  that  fat  Fats  and 
eaten  is  stored  as  fat.  It  is  absorbed  after  ®''^ 
disintegration  in  the  intestines,  but  its  uUimate  desti- 
nation is  obscure.  As  diet,  fat  is  particularly  neces- 
sary where  growth  is  going  on,  although  in  the  form 
of  simple  fat  it  often  is  objectionable  to  the  healthy 
stomach.  In  cold  climates  much  animal  fat  is  con- 
sumed, and  in  the  warmer  regions  the  vegetable  oils 
are  drawn  upon.  Our  ordinary  diet  supplies  fat  in 
butter,  milk,  and  cheese,  and  fat  is  a  part  of  the  meat- 
supply.  It  is  digested  in  the  intestines  and  not  in 
the  stomach,  and  when  in  excess  of  the  digestive 
powers  it  is  prone  to  decomposition.  The  common 
inorganic  salts  are  small  in  amount  but  inorganic 
important  in  character,  and  are  furnished  ®^"® 
integrally  with  the  food.  The  lime  salts  enter  bone, 
and  those  of  potassium  blood  and  muscle.  Common 
salt,  which  is  a  part  of  nearly  every  tissue  in  the  body, 
must  be  supphed  artificially.  Wild  animals  instinct- 
ively travel  long  distances  to  salt-licks,  and  the  staring 
coats  of  domestic  live-stock  soon  betray  its  need. 
It  probably  aids  digestion,  and  also  assists  in  the 
passage  of  fluids  into  the  tissues  by  changing  their 
specific  gravity  so  as  to  facilitate  osmosis.  An  ex- 
treme punishment  formerly  in  vogue  in  Holland  was 
to  feed  a  condemned  prisoner  with  only  un-  y^^^f  ti 
salted  bread.  Besides  the  inorganic  salts,  acids  and 
certain  vegetable  acids  and  their  salts,  insig- 
nificant in  amount,  are  absolutely  essential  for  health. 


14B  Personal  Hygiene 

When  lacking,  as  formerly  at  sea,  occasionally  with 

armies,  and  frequently  with  arctic  explorers,  the  very 

serious  and  distressing  disease  of  scurvy  is  induced.  Men 

cannot  live  in  health  on  salted  food  alone. 
Scurvy 

Salted    food    is    typically    represented    by 

beef  or  pork  preserved  by  common  salt  and  similar 
agents.*  The  vegetable  acids  from  which  the  organic 
salts  are  formed  are  the  preventives  of  scurvy,  and 
must  be  supplied  to  maintain  health.  These  are  best 
found  as  lemon  or  lime  juice,  raw  potatoes,  tomatoes, 
onions,  cabbage,  and  vinegar,  and  it  is  imperative  that 
some  of  them  should  be  used  where  fresh  vegetables 
are  wanting. 

All  the  general  classes  of  food  must  be  represented 
in  a  wholesome  diet  as  necessary  for  substantial  health, 
although  so  simple  a  combination  as  lean  meat  and 
water  contains  the  requisites.  The  essential  dietary 
problem  is  to  secure  the  proper  proportion  of  each 
class  of  food  at  a  practicable  cost,  and  to  make  use 
of  it  without  undue  strain  upon  the  animal  economy. 
Limited  Thus  one  might  live  on  bread  alone  and 
**'®*'  secure  enough  nitrogen,  but  in  doing  that 

he  would  overload  himself  with  carbon.  Or,  con- 
fined to  a  meat  diet  he  must  digest  four  times  as  much 
nitrogen  as  necessary  before  getting  enough  carbon. 
That  is,  a  man  would  require  6|  lbs.  of  flesh,  4I  lbs, 
of  bread,  or  15  lbs.  of  potatoes  a  day  in  the  attempt 

*  Common  salt  has  no  connection  with  the  organic  salts  of  vege- 
table origin,  and  should  not  be  confused  with  them,  as  is  sometimes 
done  by  younger  students. 


Food  149 

to  live  on  any  one  of  them,  and  even  supposing  that 
he  could  digest  the  whole  he  would  run  risk  of  dis- 
ease from  the  surplus.     In  starvation  the  non-nitroge- 
nous substances  go  first.     Thus,  97  per  cent.     ExDendi= 
of  fat  disappears  against  30  per  cent,   of    tu^e  of 
muscle  and  none  of  the  brain  and  cord.    For 
instance  again,  a  bear  in  hibernation  will  lose  all  his  fat, 
but  his  muscular  system  will  be  unimpaired.     On  the 
other  hand,  when  a  well-fed  animal  is  given  a  very 
rich  nitrogenous  diet,  all  the  nitrogen  in  the  food  re- 
appears in  the  urine;   that  is,  it  is  excreted  even  while 
fat    may    be    accumulating.     As    the    elimination    of 
nitrogen  in   excess  means   extra  labor  for    piimina= 
the  organs  concerned,  it  is  very  unwise  to    tion  of 
indulge  in  rich  meat  diets  when  the  body  is 
not  using  up  its  nitrogen  by  exercise.     For  the  proteids 
sometimes  go  to  waste  easier  than  the  fats.     When  built 
into  the  tissues  they  are  much  protected  from  oxida- 
tion, that    is    from  being  burned;    but    before   being 
taken  up,  they  are  easily  oxidized.     They  very  readily 
go  to  waste,  but  only  by  the  operation  of  some  bodily 
organ.     Should  that  organ  be  damaged  by  overwork, 
one  or  both  of  two  results  may  follow.    The  organ — 
liver,  kidneys,  or  what  not — may  be  disabled;   that  is, 
we  become  ill  with  some  disease  of  that  organ.     Or 
else  the  waste  that  should  pass  out  of  the  body  is 
retained   and   circulates   within   the  system.     For  in- 
stance, much  of  the  waste  of  the  proteids, 
whether  from    the    breaking    down  of  our 
flesh    in    the   ordinary   course   of  life,   or    from    the 


15©  Personal  Hygiene 

direct  decomposition  of  their  excess  in  food,  takes  the 
form  of  urea,  which  is  discharged  through  the  kidneys 
but  is  nearly  all  formed  in  the  liver.  But  if  the  liver 
is  so  disordered  that  it  cannot  make  the  urea,  or  the 
kidney  so  disabled  that  it  cannot  rid  the  blood  of  it, 
we  are  poisoned,  either  rapidly  or  slowly,  as  the  c'is- 
ability  may  chance  to  be.  The  lesson  for  us  is  that 
even  in  health  the  function  of  the  liver  has  a  limit 
beyond  which  we  should  not  trespass.  We  do  more 
than  merely  waste  food  when  we  eat  in  excess  of  our 
requirements.  Intemperance  in  eating  does  not  affect 
Food  in=  the  nervous  system,  like  alcoholic  intem- 
temperance  perance,  but  it  is  not  the  simple  condition  of 
mere  overflow,  as  so  often  assumed.  The  liver  may 
be  and  often  is  damaged  in  its  attempt  to  dispose  of 
the  surplus.  An  extreme  example  of  what  a  good 
diet  improperly  used  may  cause  is  the  artificially 
diseased  goose-liver  which  appears  on  the  table  as 
pate  de  }oie  gras.  In  man  an  alcoholic  debauch  de- 
Alcoholic  velops  an  acute  fatty  liver.  The  alcohol, 
excess  more    readily    oxidized    than    the    natural 

fats,  is  burned  in  their  place  and  a  carbonaceous  excess 
accumulates.  All  alcohol  consumed  in  health  beyond 
a  very  narrow  limit  has  the  same  tendency;  and  when 
its  consumption  is  habitual  the  internal  organs  suffer 
in  increasing  degrees. 

The   physiological   value    of   food    is   measured   in 

_  ,    ,  calories.      The   calorie   is   the   standard  of 

Calorie 

heat-production,  and,  as  heat  and  work  are 
convertible  terms,  a    calorie    expresses    the   complete 


Food  151 

combustion  of  a  given  amount  of  food,  which  thus 
develops  energy.  It  is  the  amount  of  heat  lequired 
to  raise  the  temperature  of  one  gramme  of  water  one 
degree  centigrade.  The  great  or  kilo  calorie  is  the 
heat  required  to  raise  one  kilo,  or  litre,  of  water  one 
degree  centigrade,  or  practically  one  pound  of  water 
four  degrees  Fahrenheit. 

Without  attempting  to  describe  in  detail  even  the 
ordinary  articles  of  diet,  emphasis  is  laid  on  this 
generalization:  Strength  may  be  developed  a  a-  * 
by  the  sugars,  starches,  and  fats,  and  the 
proteids  assist  in  maintaining  the  bulk  of  muscle  (which 
is  the  agent  for  the  development  of  work);  nervous 
energy  involves  the  assimilation  of  nitrogen,  which  is 
found  in  the  proteids;  and  a  reasonably  mixed  diet 
furnishes  both  forms  of  food.  Thus  bread  has  a  value 
of  1 1 28  calories  per  pound,  while  beef  has  only  623, 
and  eggs  739;  so,  weight  for  weight  but  not  bulk  for 
bulk,  bread  is  a  very  valuable  food.  But  the  pro- 
portion of  proteids  to  carbohydrates  (starch  and  sugar) 
is  too  low  to  warrant  relying  on  bread  as  a  sole  diet. 
Ideally  the  proportion  should  be  i  to  4.2;  really  it  is 
I  to  8.5,  which,  as  already  explained,  would  require 
four  pounds  of  bread  to  be  eaten  daily,  overloading 
the  digestion  with  twice  as  much  carbon  and  hydrogen 
as  required. 

Bread    is  so  important  as  to  be  worth  individual 

discussion.     It   is   the   only   article  of  diet 

1-11  1        ,  .  ,  Bread 

m    which    there  is  no    waste,   and    which 

never  palls  upon  the  appetite  when  one  is  accustomed 


152  Personal  Hygiene 

to  its  use.  Its  essential  constituent  is  flour.  Dough 
is  flour  mixed  with  salt  and  water,  and  bread  is  dough 
distended  throughout  its  particles  with  carbon  dioxide 
and  cooked.  Flour  is  the  crushed  kernel  of  wheat 
with  the  two  outer  husks,  the  bran,  removed.  Theo- 
retically bran  is  very  nutritious,  because  it  contains 
15  per  cent,  nitrogen,  3.5  fat,  and  5.7  salts.  But 
practically  bran  is  indigestible.  Its  valuable  material 
is  not  in  a  form  that  can  be  absorbed,  and  moreover 
it  mechanically  irritates  the  intestines  and  induces 
diarrhoea.  Consequently  the  "whole  flour"  recom- 
mended by  theorists  is  an  unfit  food.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  the  whole  flour  sometimes  advertised  rarely  con- 
tains more  than  a  moderate  portion  of  the  outer  part. 
On  the  other  hand  the  highest  commercial  grade  of 
flour,  the  very  fine  and  white  flour  from  which  all  the 
husk  has  been  discarded,  is  not  as  valuable  as  the 
grade  technically  known  as  "straight  flour,"  which  is 
the  entire  product  of  the  wheat,  less  the  refuse.  That 
is,  one  should  habitually  eat  neither  very  fine  nor  very 
coarse  flour. 

Two  practical  questions  immediately  arise.  What  is 
heavy  bread,  and  why  is  it  indigestible?  And  is 
or  is  not  hot,  or  fresh,  bread,  including  rolls  and  break- 
Heavy  and  fast  cakes,  to  be  classed  with  it?  First, 
hot  bread  ^^^^  jg  bread  ?  As  just  stated,  bread  is 
dough  distended  with  carbon  dioxide  and  cooked. 
Careful  kneading  of  the  flour  with  water  surrounds 
each  particle  with  an  aqueous  film.  If  baked  in  that 
condition,  these  particles  would  be  cemented  into  a 


Food  153 

hard  and  tough  inedible  mass.  But  when  the  dough 
is  moderately  heated,  not  only  is  the  albumen  in  the 
gluten  coagulated,  but  a  part  of  the  starch  is  trans- 
formed into  dextrin,  and  carbon  dioxide  is  generated 
from  it  and  from  the  yeast  or  similar  agent  that  has 
been  added.  This  gas,  the  carbon  dioxide,  forces  its 
way  between  the  particles  and  separates  them  so  that 
their  digestibility  is  facilitated  and  the  taste  is  im- 
proved. Bread  is  heavy  vv'hen  the  gas  does  not  suth- 
ciently  permeate  it  and  it  is  imperfectly  aerated.  It 
is  then  a  sticky  mass  to  whose  surface  alone  the  digestive 
fluids  have  access  and  within  which  they  cannot  act. 
From  its  density  it  is  Hterally  as  well  as  figuratively 
heavy.  Conversely,  bulk  for  bulk,  properly  aerated 
bread  is  light.  Fresh  or  hot  bread  is  not  necessarily, 
but  it  is  apt  to  be,  heavy.  Its  mere  temperature  is 
immaterial,  the  objection  to  it  being  that  in  that  state 
imperfect  baking  may  conceal  its  degree  of  aeration. 

As  already  said,  bread  alone  is  not  an  ideal  diet,  but 
it  is  a  good  "proteid- carrier,"  as  it  has  been  expressed, 
and  except  by  the  very  poor  its  deficiency  may  be 
remedied  by  adding  meat,  cheese,  or  milk.  Bread 
and  skim- milk  is  a  very  nutritious  combination,  espe- 
cially for  growing  youth.  Stale  bread  is  more  nutri- 
tious, weight  for  weight,  than  fresh  bread,  because  a 
part  of  the  water  has  been  evaporated.  Toast  is  still 
more  digestible;  more  water  has  been  driven  off  and 
more  of  the  starch  has  Ijccn  converted  into  the  soluble 
dextrin.  Biscuit,  from  the  pilot-l)read  of  the  sea  to 
the  crackers  of  the  shop,  is  unfermented  dough  thor- 


154  Personal  Hygiene 

oughly  kneaded,  and  baked  completely  but  not  burned. 
Bulk  for  bulk  the  hard  bread  of  the  camp,  which  is  a 
variety  of  biscuit,  is  more  nutritious  than  soft  bread, 
but  men  do  not  thrive  on  it  as  well  continuously. 
Corn-meal  is,  in  this  country,  next  most  common  to 
flour  as  a  sort  of  bread.  It  contains  as  much  nitrogen 
as  flour  and  four  times  as  much  fat  (6-7  per  cent.) 
and  is  very  nutritious.  But  it  must  be  thoroughly 
cooked  and  cannot  be  forced  upon  persons  unaccus- 
tomed to  its  use. 

Potatoes  are  little  but  starch  and  water  and  con- 
sequently   have    narrow    limitations.     The    starch    is 

„  ^  ^  nutritious,  but  where  potatoes  constitute  the 

Potatoes  , 

sole  food,  as  has  been  the  case  m  Ireland, 

the  best  that  can  be  said  of  them  is  that  they  are  better 
than  nothing.  That  is,  besides  a  little  cellulose,  in- 
digestible material  which  one  might  call  vegetable 
gristle,  in  a  thousand  parts  of  potatoes  13  are  proteids, 
1 54  are  starch,  and  the  rest  is  water.  The  vigor  of 
men  fed  on  starchy  food  alone  is  trifling  compared 
with  those  which  absorb  nitrogen  abundantly,  as  is 
especially  manifest  in  tropical  countries  where  nature 
suppHes  it  in  abundance  with  an  equal  indisposition  to 
severe  labor. 

As  has  been  suggested,  the  proteids  are  to  be  re- 
garded as  nervous  food.  Exhibitions  of  energy  de- 
pend upon  the  nitrogen,  which  is  contained  in  them 

_  .       alone.     Such  diet   "makes   for  intellectual 

Oatmeal  .... 

capacity  and   bodfly  energy"   (Hutchison), 

and  is  found   most  concentrated  in  the  flesh   foods, 


Food  155 

but  not  in  them  alone.  Oatmeal  is  very  nutritious 
when  properly  cooked.  It  develops,  weight  for  weight, 
130  foot-tons  of  potential  energy  against  87.5  for  bread. 
This  is  due  to  the  contained  nitrogen,  the  same  cle- 
ment that  makes  it  stimulating  for  horses.  Oatmeal 
gruel  is  extensively  and  profitably  used  by  laborers 
on  hard  work,  and  should  be  serviceable  for  men  under 
athletic  training. 

The  value  of  beans  and  pease  also  lies  in  the  con- 
tained nitrogen.     Beans  contain  several  times  as  much 
nitrogen    as    bread,    but    unless    properly 
cooked  they  are  indigestible  and  anything 
indigestible  not  only   does   no  good  but  is   harmful 
after  it  enters  the  stomach. 

Eggs  contain  very  little  useless  matter  and  are  par- 
ticularly nutritious.  Both  the  white  and  the  yolk 
contain  proteids  of  different  quality,  fats,  ^  ^.^j^ 
and  a  considerable  quantity  of  phosphorus,  milk, 
which  has  a  special  relation  to  the  nervous 
system.  It  is  a  delusion  chat  lish  are  peculiarly  food 
for  the  brain.  As  others  have  pointed  out:  Fish  con- 
tains phosphorus;  the  brain  contains  phosphorus;  but 
no  such  syllogism  can  be  constructed  from  those  two 
premises.  Milk  contains  nearly  all  the  elements  of 
food  and  is  the  one  article  of  diet  upon  which  alone 
life  can  be  sustained.  It  is  not  a  perfect  food,  and 
is  better  adapted  for  the  very  young  than  for  adults, 
but  skim- milk  is  a  good  source  of  proteids,  and  its 
deficiency  in  the  carbohydrates  is  readily  supphed  by 
bread.     It  is  a  food   quite  as  much   as  a  beverage. 


156  Personal  Hygiene 

A  half-pound  of  cheese  contains  as  much  nitrogen  as 
a  pound  of  lean  meat,  and  a  third  of  a  pound  contains 
as  much  fat. 

Sugar  has  long  been  known  as  fattening,  but  popu- 
larly it  has  been  considered  undesirable,  especially  for 
the  young.  However,  its  value  as  a  pro- 
ducer of  muscle  and  energy  is  practically 
recognized  in  the  habitual  supply  of  molasses  to 
New  England  farm-hands,  and  molasses  is  a  staple 
for  lumbermen  in  the  northern  camps.  In  fact  the 
desire  for  sugar  by  men  doing  very  hard  work  and  by 
those  imperfectly  nourished  often  amounts  to  a  craving. 
This  has  been  illustrated  on  a  large  scale  in  the  pro- 
digious consumption  of  candy  by  armies  in  the  field 
in  South  Africa  and  the  Philippines,  and  on  a  small 
scale,  but  very  effectively,  by  lads  in  training  who 
were  victors  over  non-consumers.*  Herein  practice 
has,  until  very  recently,  outrun  theory.  Now  sugar 
is  formally  recognized  as  a  source  of  energy,  and  this 
is  confirmed  by  scientific  experiment.  An  eminent 
student  of  the  subject  suggests  that  small  cups  of  highly 
sweetened  black  coffee  administered  to  the  teams 
between  the  halves  would  probably  be  rewarded  by 
greater  endurance  in  the  second  half  of  match  games. 
The  writer  has  advocated  considerable  indulgence 
in  sugar  at  the  training-table,  especially  after  weight 
begins  to  be  lost.  As  a  part  of  daily  diet  sugar  is 
theoretically  underrated.     Children's  instinctive  desire 

*  In  the  Philippines  the  stout  little  native  horses  are  regularly 
served  with  a  ration  of  molasses. 


Food  157 

and  young  women's  admitted  fondness  for  it  have 
stigmatized  its  use  by  grown  or  growing  men  as  childish, 
or  at  least  effeminate,  whereas  it  is  but  the  gratifica- 
tion of  a  natural  appetite.  Where  the  taste  has  not 
been  vitiated,  in  a  degree  by  tobacco  but  chiefly  by 
alcohol,  sugar  is  as  acceptable  to  the  normal  civilized 
man  as  it  is  to  savages,  and  his  disposition  toward 
candy  is  no  bad  test  of  one's  drinking  habits. 

A  secondary  but  important  use  of  food  is  the  genera- 
tion of  heat  from  its  oxidation  within  the  body,  and 
the  changes  in  cell  life  which  its  presence 
facilitates.  When  more  heat  is  required, 
more  food  must  be  eaten;  and  as  the  fats  break  down 
the  easiest,  we  instinctively  eat  more  of  them  when  it 
is  cold.  The  mere  act  of  living  creates  bodily  heat, 
and  we  adjust  our  personal  temperature  to  the  sur- 
rounding air  by  the  amount  of  heat  lost  by  radiation. 
Thus,  in  the  tropics  we  not  only  spontaneously  alter 
the  character  of  our  diet  rather  than  its  amount,  but 
we  reduce  our  temperature  still  further  by  providing 
for  its  more  rapid  radiation  by  wearing  thinner  clothes, 
or  none  at  all. 

It  is  impracticable  in  this  connection  to  discuss 
all  the  details  of  diet;  but  its  fluid  elements  should 
be  considered.  The  so-called  solid  food  carries  with 
it  much  water  in  composition.  This  yields  about  one- 
third  of  what  we  actually  require,  so  that 

.  J        n.        >  Water 

besides    that    which    we    neither    see    nor 

think  of  as  water  we  should  take  daily  from  three 

to   five    pints    of    it    either   directly   or   in   the   ordi- 


158  Personal  Hygiene 

nary  table  drinks  of  milk,  tea,  coffee,  and  the  like. 
In  scientific  strictness  water  is  not  a  food,  in  that 
"it  undergoes  no  change,  no  chemical  alteration  in 
the  body,  and  hence  is  not  susceptible  of  liberating 
force.  But  it  contributes  to  chemical  changes  by 
supplying  a  necessary  condition  for  its  occurrence  in 
other  bodies."  It  makes  that  solution  of  the  food 
which  is  necessary  for  digestion;  the  tissues  are  bathed 
in  fluid;  and  our  secretions  and  excretions  in  great 
part  escape  in  water.  It  carries  the  solid  infinitesimal 
tissue-making  particles  all  through  the  body,  and  it 
bears  away  much  excrementitious  matter.  One  dies  of 
thirst  much  sooner  than  of  hunger,  and  a  bleeding 
man  requires  water  more  imperatively  than  any  other 
non- surgical  service.  A  man  cannot  live  without 
water  more  than  ten  days,  but  he  may  go  without  food 
several  weeks.  As  a  rule  we  drink  too  little  fluid,  and 
many  drink  entirely  too  little  at  meals;  but  in  this 
latter  particular  every  one  must  develop  his  own 
equation.  What  is  too  much  or  too  little  for  some  is 
not  enough  for  others.  The  limitation  of  water  common 
at  the  training-table  is  designed  to  remove  super- 
fluous water  from  the  muscles  and  thus  to  increase 
energetic  quality.  Enough  water  should  always  be 
taken  to  satisfy  actual,  not  factitious,  thirst.  The 
common  fear  that  water  taken  at  meal-times  inter- 
feres with  digestion  by  diluting  the  gastric  juice  is 
unfounded.  Experiment  has  shown  that  the  presence 
of  a  pint  of  water  has  no  retarding  influence;  on  the 
other  hand   it  materially  assists  in  softening  or  dis- 


Food  159 

solving  some  forms  of  food  into  a  pulp  for  easier 
digestion.  Simple  water  escapes  from  the  stomach  by 
gushes,  at  the  rate  of  almost  one  pint  every  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour;  but  hot  water  passes  out  more 
rapidly,  and  it  also  stimulates  the  movements  of 
the  walls  of  the  stomach.  Much  of  the  water  that 
holds  food  in  solution,  as  soup,  for  example,  is  directly 
absorbed  by  the  capillaries  of  the  stomach.  It  is  an 
error  to  take  our  drink  too  cold.  The  fashion  of  ice- 
water  is  purely  a  fashion,  easily  abandoned  when  ice 
is  difficult  to  obtain.  To  flood  the  empty  stomach 
with  ice-water  is  not  wise,  for  in  real  excess  it  may 
delay  digestion  a  little.  Distilled  waters,  which  a 
priori  would  seem  the  very  best,  lie  under  the  sus- 
picion of  irritating  the  lining  membrane  of  the  stom- 
ach when  drunk  habitually  (Hutchison).  Usually  the 
domestic  water-supply  of  an  intelligent  family  is 
better  than  that  to  be  found  in  promiscuous  wells. 

Much  of  the  fluid  we  drink  is  an  infusion  of  tea, 
and  more  is  a  decoction  of  coffee.  It  is  their  con- 
tained active  principles  that  make  what  we  Tea  and 
drink  at  table  more  important  than  the  coffee 
question  of  their  quantity.  Both  tea  and  coffee,  besides 
their  agreeable  warmth  and  pleasant  flavor,  are  gentle 
nervous  stimulants  with  practically  no  reaction.  The 
active  principles  of  both  are  so  nearly  alike  that  caffeine 
may  be  taken  as  their  representative;  and  this  has 
been  supposed  to  retard  tissue-waste,  but  the  latest 
experiments  show  that  it  tends  to  increase  it.  Tea 
and  coffee  are  simple  exciters  of   the    nerve-centres, 


i6o  Personal  Hygiene 

accelerating,  and  at  first  strengthening,  the  heart's 
action  and  also  the  respiration,  and  increasing  the 
secretion  of  the  skin  and  the  kidneys.  In  some  per- 
sons coffee  increases  the  action  of  the  bowels,  but  in 
more  strong  tea,  from  its  tannin,  constipates.  In 
excess  both  induce  sleeplessness,  headache,  palpita- 
tion, tremor  of  the  muscles,  and  impaired  digestion. 
They  are  so  active  in  their  effects,  and  these  are  so 
mischievous,  that  they  should  not  be  taken  on  an  empty 
stomach.  Unless  so  weak  as  merely  to  flavor  the 
water,  it  is  impossible  to  drink  enough  of  either 
beverage,  day  by  day,  to  supply  the  requirement  for 
fluid.  When  drunk  at  breakfast,  coffee  should  be 
largely  diluted,  preferably  with  milk.  For  most,  a 
small  cup  of  black  coffee  after  the  evening  meal  assists 
digestion  and  also  acts  as  a  gentle  nervous  stimulant. 
But  to  drink,  as  sometimes  undergraduates  thought- 
lessly do,  large  quantities  of  strong  coffee  for  the 
express  purpose  of  impelling  the  brain  to  wakefulness 
and  study,  is  harmful  and  therefore  wrong.  Coffee 
does  not  create  organic  tissue-changes,  as  alcohol 
does;  nor,  like  alcohol,  does  it  lead  to  reaction;  but, 
abused,  it  jars  the  nervous  system  into  profound 
irritability,  and  in  a  few  persons  it  acts  as  a  cumu- 
lative poison.  That  coffee  is  the  strongest  known 
antidote  to  the  lethal  effect  of  opium  is  the  most 
conspicuous  evidence  of  its  action  on  the  nerves. 
"Because  caffeine  increases  the  heart's  action  and 
has  a  distinct  medical  value  for  such  use,  is  the  very 
reason  why  it  should  be  taken  with  caution  and  moder- 


Food  i6i 

ation  where  the  cardiac  action  is  already  too  vigor- 
ous. "*  Its  great  remedial  value  is  the  resistance  it 
affords  to  the  depressing  effects  of  fatigue  and  of 
exposure  to  cold,  where  it  is  far  and  away  in  advance 
of  any  good  that  alcohol  bestows.  Water  sipped  as 
hot  as  it  can  be  borne  is  effective  to  stimulate  the 
brain  for  purposes  of  study.  The  local  effect  of  the 
heat  is  to  increase  the  cerebral  circulation  and  hence 
the  flow  of  thought. 

To   epitomize   the   subject  of  diet:    An  inteUigent 
dietary  is  a  mixed  one,  and  contains  a  due  proportion 

of  nitrogen  to  furnish  energy  and  of  starch,    „ 

1-1  -1  Summary 

sugar,  and  oils  to  furnish  muscle  for  work 

and  fat  for  protection,  and,  by  its  more  rapid  oxida- 
tion, to  generate  heat.  Although  meat  is  instinctively 
accepted  as  the  typical  nitrogenous  food,  there  need 
be  none  if  we  are  sure  of  plenty  of  beans,  of  fish,  of 
cheese,  of  eggs,  of  bread  from  reasonably  coarse  flour, 
of  nuts, — not  all  of  these  together,  but  some  of  them. 
Flesh  is  usually  the  most  convenient  form  in  which 
to  secure  the  nitrogen,  but  it  is  by  no  means  indis- 
pensable. A  purely  vegetable  diet  is  more  bulky, 
it  tends  to  the  increase  of  fat,  and  the  energy  it  fur- 
nishes appears  not  to  be  as  promptly  available.  The 
disadvantage  of  meat  in  excess  is  the  heavy  burden 
it  throws  upon  the  liver  and  the  kidneys  in  disinte- 
grating and  disposing  of  its  waste.  As  a  rule  we  all 
cat  too  much,   especially  when  not  exercising  vigor- 

*  Hygiene  and  Sanitation,  i>.  244.     IJy  S.  Kgliert, 


1 62  Personal  Hygiene 

ously.  For  those  yet  growing,  milk  most  nearly  ap- 
proaches an  ideal  single  diet.  Bread  and  milk,  or  milk 
and  oatmeal,  cannot  be  excelled,  excepting  that  as 
maturity  is  reached  milk  disagrees  with  some  persons. 
It  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  skim  milk  is  poor  milk. 
It  has  lost  much  of  its  fat  by  the  removal  of  the  cream, 
but  the  other  valuable  qualities  remain. 

The  table  with  congenial  companions,  sufficient 
time,  and  fair  service  should  be  one  of  the  most  attract- 
_  ive  centres.     It  is  a  mistake  from  the  point 

of  hygiene  as  well  as  of  good  manners  to 
sacrifice  any  one  of  these  features.  There  should  be 
opportunity  for  conversation  and  to  eat  at  leisure. 
As  previously  pointed  out,  prolonged  mastication 
means  better  digestion,  less  risk  of  excess,  less  imme- 
diate demand  upon  the  blood  and  nervous  force, 
and  pleasant  social  surroundings  facilitate  the  flow  of 
the  digestive  fluids.  Food  should  not  be  stinted. 
To  eat  enough  and  to  have  it  of  good  quality  is  most 
important,  especially  while  growth  is  in  progress. 
However  plain,  food  should  be  abundant,  wholesome,- 
and  well  cooked.  The  stomach  is  the  last  object  on 
which  to  economize.  Dollars  saved  at  a  table  below 
the  standard  are  dollars  wasted.  If  retrenchment  is 
necessary,  it  should  take  some  other  form  of  self- 
denial. 


XV 

Tobacco 

nr^OBACCO  has  been  so  extravagantly  praised  and 
so  fiercely  denounced  that  prejudice  for  or  against 
it  is  very  common.  This  must  be  set  aside,  in  what- 
ever direction  it  may  run,  if  the  subject  is  to  be  studied 
on  its  merits.  The  active  principle  of  tobacco  is  the 
alkaloid  nicotine.  In  its  pure  state  this  Nicotine  and 
is  an  exceedingly  poisonous,  volatile  liquid,  Py"**>ne 
very  soluble  in  water  even  as  absorbed  from  the  air, 
colorless,  but  rapidly  turning  brown  on  exposure, 
when  a  part  is  transformed  into  an  allied  substance, 
pyridine.  Practically  the  effects  of  pyridine  are 
identical  with  those  of  nicotine,  so  that  the  whole 
may  be  considered  under  the  latter  head.  When 
nicotine  is  administered  in  increasing  doses  its  more 
prominent  symptoms  are  giddiness,  nausea,  vomiting, 
diarrhoea,  prostration,  trembling,  convulsions,  paraly- 
sis of  the  motor  nerves,  and  death.  Ordinarily,  how- 
ever, nicotine  is  not  administered  as  nicotine,  and  the 
body  receives  it  as  incidental  to  the  use  of  tobacco, 
in  which  it  exists  in  varying  degrees  according  to  the 
quality  of  the  leaf.     Its  range  runs  from  one  to  nine 

163 


164  Personal  Hygiene 

per  cent.     The  physiological  influence  of  tobacco  upon 

^,      .  man   is   that   of   the   nicotine,    a  powerful 

Physio=  '  \ 

logical  nervous  depressant,  usually  taken  in  small 
^  ^^  *  individual  doses.  But  it  has  occasionally 
been  used  by  prisoners  and  others  to  induce  vomiting, 
purging,  and  prostration,  so  as  to  feign  serious  illness 
and  thus  lead  to  transfer  to  a  hospital  and  hence  to 
escape  from  confinement  after  recovery  from  the  acute 
poisoning.  This  is  a  hazardous  ruse.  Before  anaes- 
thesia, tobacco  was  sometimes  used,  as  it  yet  may  be 
when  ether  is  not  available,  to  induce  the  relaxation  of 
faintness  as  an  aid  in  reducing  a  dislocation. 

In  other  ways  and  in  smaller  amounts  multitudes  of 
people  have  used  tobacco  by  smoking  or  chewing  it, 

or  as  snuff,  and  with  some  this  consumption 
Toleration  ,  ,    ,  , 

has  extended  over  many  years  and  to  a  great 

extent  without  noticeable  influence  upon  health.  The 
establishment  of  toleration  is  one  of  the  peculiarities 
of  the  nervous  system,  examples  of  which  are  found 
in  the  habitual  use  by  some  of  enormous  quantities 
of  opium,  of  arsenic,  and  of  alcohol,  such  as  would 
overcome  beginners.  But  freedom  from  observed 
results  does  not  mean  immunity  from  actual  conse- 
quences. The  nervous  system  is  able  gradually  to 
resist  increasing  doses  of  many  poisons,  so  that  a 
particular  effect  only  follows  the  use  of  multiple  quan- 
tities. Usually  this  is  at  the  expense  of  delicacy.  Re- 
peated shocks,  especially  when  pleasurable,  or  repe- 
titions of  mere  .exaltation  or  depression,  decrease  sus- 
ceptibility.    More  than  that,  habit  creates  a  demand, 


Tobacco  165 

a  positive  want,  and  this  craving  often  becomes  im- 
perative and  renders  the  victim  miserable  until  it  is 
gratified.  Such  gratification  must  be  habitually  re- 
newed. The  use  of  tobacco  is  a  typical  illustration  of 
toleration  and  of  craving.  In  the  beginning  there  is 
distress,  then  endurance,  then  desire.  Further,  it  is 
a  fact  that,  with  many,  when  the  habit  has  been  ac- 
quired tobacco  smoked  in  moderation  after  m:als 
stimulates  secretion  and  aids  digestion.  Advan= 
Many  also  recognize  that  it  soothes,  pro-  tages 
motes  revery,  favors  mental  and  physical  calm,  and 
counteracts  nervousness.  In  a  limited  degree  it  con- 
serves strength  where  food  is  scanty,  by  diminishing 
the  retrograde  metamorphosis  of  tissue.  In  the  face 
of  its  w.'de-spread  use,  practically  over  the  inhabited 
world,  it  is  absurd  to  say  that  tobacco  is  only  a  poison 
or  that  it  is  always  morally  wrong  or  physically  hurt- 
ful. Like  certain  medicines,  it  surely  has  a  place 
when  the  physical  system  is  not  equal  to  the  demands 
upon  it;  but,  unlike  ordinary  medicines,  it  cannot  be 
administered  without  preparatory  adaptation  of  the 
system  to  its  deranging  action.  We  may  go  further 
and  say  that,  unlike  medicines  which  build  up,  it 
creates  its  own  special  demands  and  thus  must  have 
a  classification  of  its  own ;  for  even  alcohol  and  opium 
may  be  taken  in  appropriate  c|uantities  without  ex- 
citing repulsion  at  the  very  first.  It  has  a  tolerated, 
not  a  necessary,  place  among  the  auxiliary  agents  of 
daily  life,  over  a  very  wide  geographical  range  and 
among  diverse  multitudes. 


1 66  Personal  Hygiene 

This  is  all  that  may  legitimately  be  said  in  favor  of 

its  ordinary  consumption,  excepting  that  tobacco  has 

^  ^.  .  a  decided  bactericidal  action,  so  that  when 
Toothache  ,    .     . 

chewed  it  frequently   stops  the  superficial 

decay  of  teeth,  a  condition  depending  upon  the  action  of 
bacteria.  Between  the  occasional  aching  of  a  tooth  and 
the  habitual  chewing  of  tobacco,  it  is  a  choice  of  evils. 
As  just  remarked,  it  has  exerted  a  wide  sway  over 
many  peoples  since  it  was  found  in  America  about 
three  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago;  but  it  is  equally 
true  that  "individuals  and  nations  have  attained  the 
highest  intellectual  and  physical  development  with- 
out its  use  in  any  form,  and  that  it  is  in  nowise  essential 
to  the  progress  of  the  race."  "It  is  positively  in- 
jurious to  the  young,  to  those  with  certain  diseases, 
to  those  with  a  marked  susceptibility  against  it  or 
Av^ho  are  highly  nervous  by  disposition,  to  those  unable 
to  restrict  its  use  within  proper  hmits,  to  all  who  use 
it  in  great  excess"  (W.  G.  Thompson). 

The  ways  in  which  tobacco  is  harmful  are  these: 
The  lining  of  the  mouth  becomes  congested  and  feels 
Modes  of  dry,  notwithstanding  the  copious  secretion 
harm  q£  saliva.      The  tongue  may  be  coated,  or 

be  dry,  red,  and  burning  from  the  ammonia  given  off, 
not  from  the  heat.  In  some  cases  the  irritation  goes 
on  to  actual  ulceration.  This  ulceration,  or  any 
fissure,  opens  a  way  for  the  introduction  of  the  virus 
of  constitutional  disease  by  any  contaminated  pipe 
or  utensil.  It  is  not  alleged  that  smoking  predisposes 
to  such  disease;    that  would  be  absurd.     The  asser- 


Tobacco  167 

tion  is  that  the  frequent  sores  among  smokers  are 
channels  for  possible  infection  from  numerous  sources. 
There  is  no  scientific  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
irritation  of  smoking  produces  cancer  of 
the  mouth.  But  when  from  causes  not  yet 
understood  there  is  predisposition  to  this  malignant 
disease,  it  does  appear  to  be  focussed  at  the  seat  of 
such  irritation.  The  mouth  and  throat  are  injured 
by  smoking  far  more  than  by  chewing.  The  vola- 
tilized products  of  combustion  are  more  acrid  and 
penetrating  than  are  the  juices  merely  pressed  out  by 
the  action  of  the  jaws,  although  probably  the  long- 
continued  presence  of  a  quid  may  act  as  a  local  irri- 
tant. The  upper  part  of  the  throat  (the  pharynx) 
is  habitually  congested  in  heavy  smokers,  catarrh  and 
hoarseness  characterize  smokers'  sore  throat.  Smokers' 
and  a  general  disturbance  of  the  upper  air-  throat 
passages  is  common  and  obstinate.  Tobacco  affects 
the  action  of  the  salivary  glands,  so  that  much  water 
is  lost,  for  many  spit  a  great  deal  while  smoking,  and  all 
do  in  chewing.  Apparent,  and  sometimes  real,  thirst 
is  increased,  and  what  is  more  serious,  the  digestive 
quality  of  the  saliva  is  impaired.  It  is  easily  under- 
stood how  the  excessive  flow  may  weaken  the  quality. 
When  smoke  is  inhaled,  a  part  of  it  is  absorbed  by 
the  lining  membrane  of  the  mouth  and  pharnyx,  and 
also  by  that  of  the  nose  when  passed  through  that 
organ,  as  well  as  by  the  lungs.  The  lungs  inhaled 
themselves  are  not  apt  to  be  directly  smoke 
affected  by  tobacco-smoke,  but  persons  with  liability 


1 68  Personal  Hygiene 

to  consumption  have  special  need  of  pure  air  and 
normal  heart  action.  Of  course  so  far  as  the  products 
of  combustion  displace  the  purer  atmosphere  they  are 
negatively  harmful,  just  as  any  other  substitution  of 
impure  for  pure  air  would  be.  As  presently  to  be 
shown,  the  introduction  of  tobacco-^moke  into  the  lungs 
favors  its  action  upon  the  heart  and  nervous  system. 

In  a  sense  the  foregoing  may  I  e  regarded  as  the  super- 
ficial or  mechanical  eflects  of  tobacco,  the  conse- 
quences of  contact.  But  there  are  far  more  serious 
consequences,  which  depend  upon  the  absorption  of 
the  hurtful  principles,  particularly  of  the  nicotine. 
Osmosis  leads  not  only  substances  in  actual  solution 
but  also  aerial  mixtures,  gases  pure  or  combined,  to 
pass  through  capillary  membranes.  If  a  part  of  the 
Nicotine  nicotine  is  dissolved  in  the  fluids  of  the 
absorbed  mouth,  we  may  expect  a  httle  of  it  to  be 
absorbed  through  that  mucous  membrane.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  nicotine  is  exceedingly  volatile 
as  well  as  very  poisonous,  and  that  heat  easily  dis- 
engages it  from  the  tobacco,  so  that  along  with  other 
products  of  combustion  it  is  a  component  of  the  smoke. 
Of  its  presence  there  the  nausea  of  unaccustomed 
persons  breathing  an  atmosphere  clouded  with  tobacco- 
smoke  is  physiological  evidence,  for  the  fumes  of 
ordinary  burning  vegetation  have  no  such  effect. 
Evidence  Ocular  evidence  of  the  disengagement  of 
of  nicotine  nicotine  is  to  be  had  from  the  stem  of  any 
cigar-holder,  the  bowl  of  any  meerschaum  pipe,  the 
fingers  of  any  cigarette-smoker.  The  brown  stain  is  cer- 


Tobacco  169 

tainly  not  that  of  simple  smoke.  It  represents  nicotine 
driven  off  by  heat,  condensed  and  made  visible  by  the 
absorption  of  moisture  from  the  air.  If  all  the  nicotine 
were  expelled  into  the  outer  air,  it  would  be  of  no  conse- 
quence where  it  might  be  condensed  later.  But  in 
too  many  instances  when  smoke  laden  with  nicotine 
enters  the  mouth  it  is  also  drawn  into  the  lungs.  Some 
smokers  regard  it  as  an  accomplishment  "to  swallow 
the  smoke,"  as  it  is  called.  It  is  a  dangerous  feat. 
The  smoke  is  not  really  swallowed,  it  is  inhaled,  drawn 
into  the  lungs  v/here  it  replaces  an  equal  quantity  of  pure 
air.  In  this  way  a  good  proportion  of  volatilized 
nicotine  enters,  or  may  enter,  the  lungs.  Nicotine 
Were  it  not  so,  did  all  the  nicotine  remain  inhaled 
outside  the  body,  the  visible  stains  would  merely  be 
an  outward  sign  of  one  way  of  spending  money.  But 
while  it  is  thus  volatilized  within  the  lungs  a  part  of 
the  alkaloid  is  taken  up  by  osmosis  into  the  blood 
through  the  delicate  walls  of  the  capillaries  with  which 
it  comes  in  contact.  For  "the  blood  always  absorbs 
such  ingredients  with  great  rapidity,  and  distributes 
them  so  as  to  produce  their  effects  speedily."  The 
nicotine  as  a  vapor  enters  the  blood  through  the 
capillary  walls  with  perfect  facility.  Besides,  a  cer- 
tain proportion  of  carljon  monoxide,  very  different  and 
far  more  poisonous  than  carbon  dioxide.  Carbon 
which  acts  directly  and  actively  upon  the  monoxide 
blood  as  a  disintegrator — it  is  the  dcatliprocUicing 
agent  in  [)oisoning  from  ilhiminating-gas — is  also  dis- 
engaged fn;m  tlie  tobacco  and  aljsorbed.     The  special 


170  Personal  Hygiene 

action  of  the  carbon  monoxide  is  to  destroy  the  oxygen- 
carrying  capacity  of  the  red  corpuscles  of  the  blood. 
But  although  this  gas  is  dangerous,  the  quantity  of  it 
disengaged  is  small.  Much  more  important  as  an  active 
disturbing  agent  is  the  nicotine    itself.      One  of  its 

...     . .  effects  is  upon  the  vaso-motor  nerves  which 

Nicotine  ^ 

and  vaso=  control  the  calibre  of  the  blood-vessels. 
The  tendency  of  alcohol  is  to  cause  the 
capillaries  to  dilate,  that  of  tobacco  is  to  cause  them 
to  contract.  "When  a  smoker  drinks  wine  or  spirits, 
he  has  been  described  as  inducing  a  balance  in  the 
tension  of  his  arterial  circuit"  (Richardson).  That  is, 
the  effect  of  tobacco  is  to  contract  and  of  alcohol  to 
expand  the  fine  elastic  blood-vessels,  so  that  when 
nicely  adjusted  one  would  counterbalance  the  other. 
Such  a  balance  is  impracticable,  and  "in  the  end  the 
nutrition  of  the  organic  parts,  which  are  under  the 
influence  of  the  same  nervous  regulation,  is  sure  to 
suffer  and  in  many  organizations  rapidly  and  fatally" 
(Richardson).  Besides  this  specific  action  of  contract- 
ing the  calibre  of  the  blood-vessels,  there  are  well- 
established  general  physiological  functions  attributable 
to  tobacco,  all  operating  through  the  nervous  system, 
to  be  carefully  remembered. 

Tobacco  does  not  directly  affect  the  brain,  but  its 
active  principle  does  impair  first  the  conductivity  of 
Motor  the  motor  nerves  and  then  that  of  the  motor 

nerves  paths  in  the  spinal  cord.  When  under  the 
influence  of  the  alkaloid  the  nerves  fail  to  excite  mus- 
cular contraction,  there  follow  weakness,  inability  to 


Tobacco  171 

stand,  depression  of  the  respiratory  movements,  and 
finally  death  from  failure  of  the  respiratory  muscles. 
Breathing  ceases  because  the  chest-walls  no  longer 
respond  to  the  vital  requirements.  A  person  who 
smoked  in  one  day  fourteen  cigars  and  forty  cigarettes 
had  paralysis  of  both  legs  and  a  copious  discharge, 
probably  from  sheer  want  of  tone,  from  the  larger 
bronchial  tubes  (Axon).  By  causing  irregularity  of 
the  nerve-supply  it  degrades  the  tissues  irregu- 
generally,  and  it  predisposes  to  neuralgia,  larity 
vertigo,  indigestion,  and  other  disturbances  of  the  nerv- 
ous, circulatory,  and  digestive  systems.  That  tobacco 
causes  wasting  of  the  great  nerve  that  pre-  Optic 

sides  over  sight  is  not  true;    or  if  at  any  nerve 

time  it  might  seem  so,  the  condition  is  so  infrequent 
as  to  be  negligible.  But  very  frequently  its  working 
power  is  interfered  with,  for  tobacco  is  liable  to 
render  vision  weak  and  uncertain,  causing  objects  to 
appear  nebulous,  or  it  creates  the  sensation  of  floating 
spots   and   of  similar  subjective  phenomena   (Stille). 

In  numerous  instances  amaurosis — a  defect 

....  ^  .    Amaurosis 

m   vision  without   change  of    structure — is 

induced,  and  sometimes  buzzing,  ringing  in  the  ears 

and  hallucinations  occur.     One  distinguished  oculist 

reported    thirty-five    cases    of   amaurosis   due   to    the 

continued   irritation   of  the  optic  nerve  by   tobacco; 

and   another   asserts   that  when   the  sight  fails  with 

smokers  and  no  appreciable  change  of  structure  can 

be  found,  tobacco-poisoning  may  be  assumed.     This 

reaches    certainty    when    approprig,te    remedies    fail 


172  Personal  Hygiene 

during  continuance  of  the  habit,  and  recovery  follows 

the  abandonment  of  tobacco  (McSherry).     Candidates 

for  the  Naval  Aacdemy  rejected  for  defective  vision 

have  admitted  the  premature  use  of  tobacco,  and  the 

Professor  of  Drawing  at  that  institution  has  found  that 

the  smokers  have  an  impaired  muscular  control  which 

retards  progress  and  efficiency,  and  he  believes  that 

he  can  invariably  recognize  the  use  of  tobacco  in  a 

naval  cadet  by  his  tremulous  hand  in  ma- 
Drawing 

nipulating  the  pencil,  and  by  his"  absolute 

inability  to  draw  a  clean  straight  line"  (Gihon), 
Decaigne  asserts  that  it  often  induces  an  intermittent 
pulse,  and  that  21  out  of  81  smokers  showed  such  a 
pulse  without  there  being  any  change  in  the  structure 
of  the  heart  to  account  for  it.  With  the  abandon- 
ment   of    the    habit    the    intermittence    disappeared. 

Annually  candidates  for  the  Naval  Academy 

Heart  ^         .  .         .  ■' 

have  been  rejected  for  cardiac  disturbance, 

who  afterward  admitted  using  tobacco.  When  its 
use  was  allowed  there,  the  annual  physical  examina- 
tions showed  tobacco-hearts  among  those  previously 
free.  Stille  and  Maisch,  eminent  American  students^ 
of  the  general  action  of  drugs,  discussing  the  subject 
General  scientifically  and  without  prejudice,  wrote, 
action  j^j^g  g^g^.   "Often  there  is  a  feeling  of  rush 

of  blood  to  the  head  with  vertigo  and  impairment  of 
attention,  so  as  to  prevent  continuous  mental  effort; 
the  mind  is  also  apt  to  be  filled  with  crude  and  ground- 
less fancies,  leading  to  distrust  and  melancholy.  The 
3leep    is    frequently    restless    and    disturbed    by    dis- 


Tobacco  1/3 

tressing  dreams.  It  impairs  muscular  power  and  co- 
ordination by  interfering  with  nutrition  and  by  ex- 
hausting nervous  force,  and  it  usually  keeps  down  the 
growth  of  muscle  and  the  deposit  of  fat.  .  .  .  To  the 
greater  number  the  habitual  use  is  more  injurious  than 
useful,  and  it  acts  upon  a  certain  number  in  almost 
all  doses  as  a  poison."  The  abuse  of  tobacco  does 
not  cause  all  these  disabihties  in  every  case.  But  in 
a  tobacco-consuming  group  every  subject  may  have 
one  or  another  of  them. 

Tobacco  probably  assists  in  arresting  molecular 
waste  of  tissue,  and  on  that  account  may  be  used  by 
many  adults,  not  only  with  apparent  im-  Tissue= 
punity  but,  under  certain  circumstances,  waste 
with  positive  benefit — as,  for  instance,  by  soldiers  on 
hard  marches  with  limited  food,  and  by  underfed 
laborers  generally.  But  that  very  action,  the  arrest 
of  waste  and  the  failure  to  utilize  fresh  material,  is 
detrimental  to  the  young  by  retarding  the  progressive 
changes  upon  which  the  advanced  development  of 
the  body  depends. 

So  far  as  the  tobacco  itself  is  concerned,  a  mild 
light  cigar  is  the  least  likely  to  produce  ill  effects,  but 
many  smokers  find  that  they  can  use  clean  Mode  of 
pipes  with  less  injury  than  any  cigar.  "*® 
When  pipes  are  used  the  stem  should  be  long,  to  cool 
the  smoke  and  condense  the  volatile  products,  and 
the  bowl  should  be  porous  to  absorb  the  noxious 
constituents — the  coloring  of  pipes  depends  on  such 
absorption.     The    better    pipes    have    a    small    res- 


174  Personal  Hygiene 

ervoir   which   collects    an   oily   distillate,   and   when 

a  drop  or  two   of   that   is   sucked   in  from   a   dirty 

pipe  it  gives  violently  poisonous  effects.      A  little  of 

it  may   be  confidently  relied  upon   to  kill  a  young 

child.     In  smoking  either  a  cigar  or  a  pipe,  the  last 

portion  of  the  tobacco  is  the  most  active,  because  it 

has  taken  up  in  addition  to  its    normal  constituents 

part  of  the  products  of  the  earlier  consumption. 

The  discussion  of  the  use  of  cigarettes  depends  for 

its  force  upon  the  innate  constitution  of  tobacco  itself. 

Bearing  that  in  mind,  it  will  be  unnecessary 
Cigarettes         .      '^        .    .  ,  ,   .   .      , 

to  mterrupt  the  account  by  explammg  how 

the  cigarette  intensifies  the  ordinary  effect  of  this 
drug.  The  habit  of  cigarette-smoking  is  chiefly  mis- 
chievous from  what  may  be  called  its  conditions,  but 
these  are  important  and  pernicious.  The  mere  act 
of  smoking  a  cigarette  need  not  in  itself  be  more 
harmful  than  smoking  as  much  tobacco  of  the  same 
quality  in  the  form  of  a  cigar.  But,  generally  speak- 
ing, it  is  more  harmful.  It  is  not  probable  that  cigar- 
ette tobacco  is  commonly,  or  even  frequently,  adul- 
Adultera-  terated  (although  the  charge  is  sometimes 
tion  definitely  made  that  the  cheaper  grades  are 

filled  with  powdered  stumps  of  smoked  and  discarded 
cigars),  nor  that  the  paper  is  soaked  with  narcotic  drugs. 
Possibly  certain  grades  may  contain  other  narcotics 
somewhere  about  them,  so  that  if  sedulously  searched 
for  they  may  be  found.  But  these,  if  they  exist,  are 
prepared  for  special  customers  well  advanced  in  the 
drug  habit  and  are  not  those  ordinarily  sold  over  the 


Tobacco  175 

counter.  The  possibility  may  be  disregarded  until 
established,  for  the  nicotine  itself  is  harmful  enough 
to  warrant  every  man,  and  especially  every  young 
man,  abstaining  from  the  practice  when  he  under- 
stands the  evil.  The  ill  effects  of  tobacco  pure  and 
simple  have  been  explained.  It  is  recognized  that  the 
normal  body  is  sufficiently  elastic  to  react  more  or 
less  completely  from  violence  or  prostration  however 
induced,  provided  the  attack  is  not  distinctly  over- 
powering and  directly  fatal.     But  the  rebound  is  not 

always   complete,    and   the   more   frequent  _ 

11111  •         111  Depression 

and  the  deeper  the  depression  the  less  and 

less  easily  is  the  normal  plane  regained.  It  is  there 
where  the  habit  of  smoking  does  harm,  and  espe- 
cially the  habit  of  cigarette-smoking  which  is  so  easily 
acquired,  and  cigarettes  are  so  rapidly,  so  completely, 
and  so  frequently  smoked  that  they  act  by  multiple 
continuous  shocks.  One  may  not  recognize  any  indi- 
vidual blow,  but  inappreciably  the  body  falls  below 
the  normal  and  only  after  a  long  time  does  the  victim 
realize  that  he  has  lost  ground.  The  custom  of  in- 
haling  the   fumes,   although  no   necessary 

r    1  .  11  ,  ,.  1     1  Inhalation 

part  of  the  process,  is  well  established  out 

of  proportion  to  the  same  practice  in  cigar-smoking, 
and  seems  to  be  so  necessary  a  part  of  the  "form," 
that  the  two  are  inseparably  connected  in  thought  and 
nearly  so  in  fact.  As  already  explained,  such  inhala- 
tion is  particularly  detrimental,  for  the  nicotine  at 
once  enters  the  blood.  Obviously  the  younger  the 
subject  the  more  injurious  the  habit. 


176  Personal  Hygiene 

Tobacco  in  excess  impairs  digestion,  it  checks  nu- 
trition, it  diminishes  growth,  and  frequently  it  induces 
serious  nervous  disorders,  as  illustrated.  Careful 
Desire  for  observers  believe  that  the  tendency  of 
alcohol  tobacco  is  to  encourage  the  desire  for 
alcohol,  and  Decaigne,  the  French  authority  already 
quoted,  speaking  of  young  smokers  whom  he  had 
examined,  says  "they  furthermore  became  dull,  lazy, 
and  predisposed  to  alcoholic  drinks."  As  Richard- 
son insists:  "The  young  should  especially  avoid  the 
habit.  It  gives  a  doubtful  pleasure  for  a  certain  pen- 
alty. Less  destructive  than  alcohol,  it  induces  certain 
nervous  changes,  some  of  which  pass  into  permanent 
modification  of  function."  Without  quoting  authori- 
ties and  accusations  in  more  detail,  Gihon's  indict- 
ment against  tobacco  is  cited  and  adopted:  "An  agent 
General  that  has  mischievously  been  represented  to 
indictment  ^^  innocuous  only  because  of  the  remark- 
able tolerance  exhibited  by  a  few  individuals  is 
actually  capable  of  potent  evil;  through  its  sedative 
effect  on  the  circulation  it  creates  a  thirst  for  alcoholic 
stimulation;  by  its  depressing  and  disturbing  effects 
on  the  nerve-centres  it  increases  sexual  propensities 
and  leads  to  secret  practices,  while  permanently  im- . 
perilling  virile  powers;  it  determines  functional  dis- 
orders of  the  heart;  and  it  impairs  vision,  blunts 
memory,  and  interferes  with  mental  effort  and  appli- 
cation." In  the  great  Polytechnic  School  of  France, 
now  more  than  forty  years  ago,  "a  comparison  be- 
tween smokers  and  non-smokers  showed  that  the  non-. 


Tobacco  177 

smokers  took  the  highest  rank  in  every  grade,  and 
further  that  the  smokers  continually  lost  grade,  so  that 
in  1 86 1  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  issued  a  cir- 
cular order  forbidding  the  use  of  tobacco  in  the  public 
schools  of  France."  It  may  fairly  be  added  that  its 
tendency  is  to  lessen  physical  growth  as  well,  to  deprive 
in  every  way  the  growing  youth  of  his  full  Trammels. 
measure  of  development.  That  it  trammels  Physique 
the  physique  is  notorious,  so  that  all  those  in  training 
for  severe  physical  exercise  are  required  to  abstain 
from  tobacco,  and  those  engaged  in  very  delicate 
manual  work  learn  that  they  must  refrain.  But  it 
does  more  than  merely  derange  codrdinate  action,  it 
puts  a  limit  to  expansion.  These  figures,  believed 
to  be  trustworthy,  should  appeal  to  undergraduates, 
representing  as  they  do  groups  of  similar  character. 
At  one  of  the  large  eastern  institutions,  taking  the 
statistics  for  nine  years  during  which  time  all  the 
entering  men  were    examined  and  measured,   it  was 

found   that   the   smokers     averaged   fifteen 

,11  1  1  1         1  Stature 

months  older  than  the  non-smokers  but  they 

were  less  in  stature.  A  reasonable  inference  would  be 
that  both  their  mental  and  their  physical  equipments 
were  inferior  to  those  of  their  abstinent  comrades,  or 
that,  starting  in  childhood  on  a  virtual  equality,  the 
use  of  tobacco  had  dwarfed  them  in  both  respects. 
During  the  four-years'  course  the  non-users,  notwith- 
standing they  were  taller  on  entering,  p-ained^.  .  . 
.  1  .  1  Chest=girth 
in  height  24  per  cent,  more  and  in  chest- 
girth    26.7   per  cent,   more  than  the    habitual    users. 


178  Personal  Hygiene 

Assuming  that  they  lived  under  substantially  similar 
conditions  in  other  respects,  it  again  shows  the 
restraining  influence  of  this  narcotic.  At  a  smaller 
New  England  college  the  differences  were  even 
greater  and  the  inequality  in  lung  capacity  between 
the  two  sets  of  men  was  very  striking.  To  interpret 
the  statistics  as  to  mental  attainment,  whether  that 
means  capacity  or  not,  is  more  difficult;  but  it  is 
reported  that  at  one  of  the  American  universities 
Scholar-  among  the  highest  scholarship  men  only 
ship  f^YQ  pgj-  cent,  used  tobacco,  while  sixty  per 

cent,  of  those  who  failed  to  secure  appointments  used 
it.  There  are  too  many  other  factors  that  should  be 
considered  to  make  this  conclusive  as  to  the  mental 
state,  but  it  certainly  is  suggestive  and  it  establishes  a 
strong  presumption  against  the  tobacco  habit  for 
undergraduates.  To  be  possessed  of  such  a  habit  is 
very  serious.  Like  the  user  of  any  other  narcotic, 
the  habitual  smoker  finds,  when  deprived  of  his  ac- 
customed drug,  that  there  arises  a  consuming  desire, 
a  longing  difficult  to  be  translated  into 
words,  which  sometimes  is  practically  over- 
powering and  unfits  him  for  work  or  for  enjoyment 
until  it  is  gratified.  The  tobacco  habit  has  not  the 
moral  nor  the  physical  consequences  of  the  alcohol  or 
the  opium  habit,  but  that  it  is  distinctly  harmful  must 
have  been  made  clear,  and  is  to  be  remembered  that 
it  is  insidious  in  its  approach  and  powerful  in  its  hold. 
Smokers  who  pass  beyond  the  border-line  of  modera- 
tion and  realize  that  they  must  stop  often  find  th§ni' 


Tobacco  179 

selves  in  a  grip  from  which  it  is  difficult  to  escape,  or 
on  an  incline  down  which  it  is  easier  to  proceed  than 
to  pause.  Even  youths  and  very  young  men  once 
under  its  fascination  who  analyze  their  sensations 
and  desires  may  find  themselves  very  uncomfortable 
without  cigarettes.  When  there  is  an  apparent  neces- 
sity, or  at  the  least  a  desire,  strong  enough  to  interrupt, 
as  is  sometimes  the  case,  the  requirements  of  academic 
life  and  of  social  decorum,  it  is  putting  it  mildly  to 
say  that  the  sufferer  is  not  in  good  condition.  De- 
pendence upon,  or  indeed  aid  received  from,  a  nervous 
stimulant  or  sedative,  the  name  is  immaterial,  implies 
deficient  natural  vigor;  and  the  sooner  the  artificial 
support  is  rejected  and  that  vigor  is  recovered  the 
better.  It  is  earnestly  insisted  that,  in  the  opinion  of 
all  competent  judges,  for  growing  youth  tobacco, 
especially  in  the  form  of  cigarettes,  quite  apart  from 
excess,  is  always  deleterious. 

It  appears  to  be  sometimes  thought  that  the  cigarette 
— the  little  cigar — is  diminutive  in  its  ill  effects  as  well 
as  in  its  name.  Smoked  like  a  cigar,  an  individual 
cigarette  might  be  so.  But  in  practice  the  action  of 
the  tobacco  in  the  two  forms  is  unequal  because  of 
the  mode  of  use,  and  of  the  two  the  cigarette  is  the 
more  pernicious.  Physiologically  either  is  bad,  and 
no  young  man  wants  to  dwarf  himself,  to 
diminish  his  possible  physical  or  mental 
development,  or  to  become  entangled  in  the  coils  of  a 
habit  to  secure  release  from  which  is  practically  to 
fight  with  disease.     It  is  not  asserted  that,  because 


1^6  Personal  Hygiene 

the  tendency  is  always  to  increased  indulgence,  the 
temperate  use  of  tobacco  is  impossible;  but  it  is  iterated 
that  any  use  of  tobacco  by  the  young  does  harm, 
although  the  signs  may  be  delayed.  The  younger  the 
use  of  tobacco  is  begun,  the  more  hable  is  the  habit 
of  its  use,  a  habit  that  nourishes  itself,  to  be  formed. 

It  is  a  characteristic  of  youth,  which  has  its  advan- 
tages as  well  as  its  disadvantages,  to  disregard  consc- 
■quences — but  the  consequences  follow  all  the  same, 
regardless  of  the  state  of  mind.  The  recklessness  of  a 
life-saving  crew  and  of  a  careless  yachtsman  or  swimmer 
are  very  different  in  quahty.  The  "don't  care" 
feeling  of  mere  bravado  is  simply  a  sign  of  weakness 
or  ignorance.  Because  of  this  disregard  of  what  may 
happen  in  the  future  it  is  the  more  difficult  for  youth 
to  reahze  the  danger  or  to  appreciate  the  necessity  for 
abandoning  a  practice  which  has  its  present  fascina- 
tion. A  good  part  of  some  lives  is  spent  in  repairing 
damages;  in  other  lives  the  damage  goes  on  without 
repair.  There  are  quite  enough  evils  that  befall  us 
through  ignorance  or  by  misfortune,  without  increasing 
the  number  with  open  eyes.:  If  it  were  a  mere  ques- 
tion of  pleasure  to  be  attained  at  some  expense  of 
standing,  or  if  it  were  a  temporary  draft  upon  bodily 
power  sure  to  be  regained  later,  abstention  might  not  be 
insisted  upon.  But  neither  is  the  case.  The  essential 
object  of  undergraduate  life  is  to  acquire  an  education 
as  well  as  to  absorb  learning,  and  the  two  are  not 
identical.  For  obvioris  reasons  all  students  cannot 
attain  the  highest  grades,  and  it  is  very  well  that  many 


Tobacco  1 8 1 

should  broaden  themselves  by  books  plus  other  exer- 
cises. But  it  is  not  well,  and  it  never  will  be  well, 
deliberately  to  pursue  practices  which  limit  the  ex- 
pansion and  the  acuteness  of  the  growing  mind  and  the 
full  development  of  the  physical  frame.  The  less 
disposed  one  may  be  to  accept  these  remarks,  the 
more  important  it  is  that  he  should  heed  them. 

Although  most  boys  learn  to  smoke,  and  learn 
through  much  tribulation  because  they  think  it  is 
manly,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  argue 
seriously  that  smoking  is  in  itself  no  evi- 
dence of  manhood  or  of  manliness.  It  is  no  more 
manly  to  ^moke  than  it  is  to  swear;  and  both  begin 
by  imitation.  The  newsboys  of  large  cities,  the  street 
arabs  and  wharf-rats  in  nearly  every  town,  the  un- 
trained boys  of  weak  or  ignorant  parents  puff  ciga- 
rettes wherever  they  can  fmd  them.  But  they  do  not 
become  manly  thereby.  It  more  clearly  marks  them 
as  degenerate.  It  is  a  common  belief  that  smoking 
is  practically  universal  in  what  is  ordinarily  called 
Society,  and  that  the  young  man  who  does  not  smoke 

is  peculiar — which  with  some  is  worse  than 

1    •         •  ^       T,  ,  •  •  Custom 

bemg    immoral.     But    smokmg    is    not    a 

social  necessity,  and  critical  observation  of  the  habitfe 

of  educated  and  gentle  men  may  cause  a  revision  of 

that  estimate. 

It  is  by  no  means  contended  that  tobacco  in  real 

moderation   is   appreciably  harmful   to   all    solace  in 

whose   physical    develo[)ment,   not    merely    "^^turity 

Iheir  stature,  is  attained.    As  already  said,  to  the  mature 


182  Personal  Hygiene 

man  a  cigar  after  meals  or  before  sleeping,  a  pipe  after 
a  tramp  or  in  the  intervals  of  work,  may  be  a  physical 
solace  and  relief.  But  that  is  entirely  different  from 
the  burden  of  this  discussion,  and  even  with  vigorous 
men  the  weight  of  testimony  is  against  not  only  its 
excessive  but  its  common  and  indiscriminate  use. 
Many  and  many  a  man  has  had  to  give  up  smoking 
when  he  could,  or  to  lessen  his  indulgence  in  the  direct 
interest  of  his  health.  A  fair  proportion  of  the  alleged 
nervous  breakdown  from  overwork,  the  neurasthenia 
or  nervous  prostration  of  modern  life,  is  a  consequence 
of  the  abuse  of  tobacco. 

This  presentation  of  the  subject  is  impelled  by  no 
sentimental  motive,  by  no  partiality  for  asceticism. 
The  fellowship  that  is  implied  in  the  social  feature 
of  a  good  cigar  is  very  attractive.  What  has  been 
said  is  based  on  scientific  observation  supported  by 
incontrovertible  facts,  which  compels  the  teaching  that 
to  use  tobacco  before  full  maturity  is  attained,  that  is 
before  the  age  of  twenty-five,  except  in  extremest 
moderation  after  complete  growth,  is  harmful,  and 
that  even  after  that  period  its  excessive  use  is  apt  to 
be  mischievous.  It  is  one  of  the  signs  of  the  liberty 
of  an  educated  and  expanding  mind  resolutely  to 
forego  such  indulgence'  during  undergraduate  years, 
when  bodily  vigor  and  mental  force  should  be  main- 
tained without  risk  of  depression  or  harm  to  either. 
It  will  be  quite  time  to  consider  the  cultivation  of 
tobacco  among  postgraduate  accomplishments  when 
that  period  is  reached. 


XVI 

Alcohol 

"PRECONCEPTIONS  concerning  the  use  of  alco- 
hohc  beverages  are  so  tenaciously  held  by  many, 
and  half-truths  have  so  wide  an  influence  on  this  subject, 
that  the  utmost  care  is  necessary  to  avoid  error  in   one 
direction  or  the  other.     Some  believe  that  it  is  immoral 
per  se  to  drink  a  glass  of  wine;  others  think       Popular 
that  alcohol  may  properly  be  used  to  invoke       views 
a  hilarious  delirium  ai  the  cost  of  a  succeeding  tem- 
porary  disturbance    of   the    body,    regardless    of  the 
accompanying  danger  and  shame.     Most  non-experts, 
when  unprejudiced,  seem  to  regard  its  use  short  of  in- 
toxication as  negative,  so  far  as  any  lasting  mental  or 
physical   effect   is   concerned.     Its  primary  .  .. 
action    on     the     nervous     system    tempts  over  lower 
barbarians,     ignorant     of     its     secondary 
consequences;     and    inferior    races    are    speedily    de- 
stroyed by  its  free  use.     With  our  own  race  "strong 
drink"  is  frequently  regarded  as  analogous    strong 
to  strong  meat,  and  to  be  deprived  of  beer    <*""k 
or  spirits  is  sometimes  thought  a  positive  injustice. 

183 


I  84  Personal  Hygiene 

But  statistics  are  cumulative  that  the  expectation  of 

life  is  greater  amonff  non-drinkiner  people, 
Abstinence       ,  ^^^      ,  ?      ,         ..    .    ,     1    f  • 

and  Mussulman  armies  show  that  alcohol  is 

unnecessary  for  the  greatest  feats  of  courage  and  en- 
durance.    Alcohol  is  a  narcotic,  "  a  medicine   which 

acts  first  to  exalt  the  nervous  system  and 
Action  ,  ,  -1,1 

then  to  depress  it,  and  to  have  a  special 

action  on  the  intellectual  part  of  the  brain."  Intoxi- 
cation, literally  poisoning,  is  "a  semi-narcotic  condi- 
Intoxica=.  tion  with  physical  and  mental  want  of 
tion  co-ordination,    and    the    exhilaration    and 

stimulation  are  stepping-off  stones  in  the  order  of 
progress  to  narcotism."  But,  as  with  opium  and 
Legitimate  strychnine,  alcohol  may  properly  be  admin- 
medicine  istered,  even  in  very  large  quantities,  in 
some  states  of  disease.  Moderate  amounts  have  c'.iffci- 
ent  effects  in  health  as  taken  before  or  after  work, 
or  with  or  not  with  food,  and  according  to  their  degree 

of  dilution.     In  health   moderate   amounts 
Digestion  .  .,..,. 

of  wine  appear  to  aid  digestion  of  meat  and 

other  proteid  substances  in  the  stomach.  Larger 
quantities  retard  it.  Malt  hquors  in  excess  retaid 
digestion,  because  of  the  vegetable  extractives  present. 
Intoxicating  doses  of  spirits  reduce  digestion  one- 
fourth  or  one-third.  Alcoholic  beverages  stimulate 
the  flow  of  sahva  promptly  but  briefly.  In  small 
quantities  alcohol  does  not  interfere  with  intestinal 
digestion. 

Taken  moderately,  latent  energy  is  given  off  by  alco- 
hol through  oxidation,  as  with  starches,  sugars,  and 


Alcohol  185 

fats,  and    it  may  afford  energy  for  muscular  work. 

Four  parts  by  weight  yield  as  much  energy  as  seven 

of  sugar,  starch,  or  protein,  or  three  of  fat.      Heat 

is  yielded  in   the    same  way,   but   whether  it  yields 

muscular  energy  is  still  uncertain.     It  has        ^ 

,  .  Energy 

been  supposed  that  all  the  energy  furnished 

is  wasted  by  radiation,  but  the  effect  upon  bodily  heat 
developed  by  the  maximum  permissible 
quantity  a  healthy  man  may  take  is  nothing 
either  way.  That  maximum  quantity  within  twenty- 
four  hours  is  half  a  bottle  of  claret,  four  glasses  of 
beer,  or  three  ounces  of  whiskey  well  diluted  and 
taken  only  at  meals.  Should  it  all  be  taken  at  once 
or  ordinary  intoxication  be  induced,  there  would 
be  dilatation  of  the  vessels  of  the  skin,  greater  per- 
spiration, more  radiation  and  consecutive  fall  of  tem- 
perature. In  dead-drunkenness  the  heat-controlling 
nervous  centre  is  depressed  and  the  pro-  Resistance 
duction  of  bodily  heat  retarded;  this,  with  ***  *^<**** 
the  increased  radiation,  lowers  the  temperature  several 
degrees.  Hence  exposure  to  extreme  cold  easily 
destroys  life,  for  the  natural  heat  of  the  body  is  lowered 
while  its  power  of  resistance  to  cold  is  lessened.  The 
subjective  sense  of  warmth  that  follows  drinking  a 
little  alcohol  depends  on  the  capillaries  of  the  skin  being 
dilated  near  the  sensory  nerves,  so  that  as  more  blood 
is  drawn  to  the  surface  from  the  interior  the  nerves 
recognize  the  additional  superficial  warmth — but  it  is 
a  mere  transference  of  internal  warmth  to  the  skin. 
As  stated,  alcohol  has  qualities  under  certain  circum- 


1 86  Personal  Hygiene 

stances  that  belong  to  food ;  but  it  is  not  the  best  food, 
and  beyond  very  narrow  limits  it  creates  per- 
nicious conditions.  Still,  when  acting  as  food 
the  various  exhibitions  of  energy  proceed  in  an  orderly 
way  and  neither  antagonize  each  other  nor  take  on  irreg- 
ular forms.  The  important  difference  between  starch  or 
sugar  and  alcohol  as  food  is  that  the  former  may  be 
taken  up  to  the  limits  of  digestion  and  assimilation,  but 
the  latter  acts  upon  the  nervous  system  in  health  so 
peculiarly  that  it  is  impossible  to  take  enough  to  be  of 
any  nutritive  value.  But  in  certain  conditions  of  disease 
large  quantities  of  alcohol  are  not  only  tolerated  but  sus- 
tain life  through  a  stimulating  and  a  possibly  nutritive 
effect.  The  foregoing  states  the  whole  case  in  favor  of 
alcohol  as  nutriment.  Its  potential  food-value  lies  within 
three  or  four  glasses  of  highly -diluted  whiskey  or  as 
many  glasses  of  beer,  taken  with  meals  in  the  course 
of  twenty-four  hours  by  fully  developed  men,  and  it 
only  considers  its  possible  nutritive  value  under  very 

favorable  conditions.    Some  authorities  limit 
Limit  .     .    1  1  p      . 

the  permissible  amount  to  a  glass  of  wme, 

or  a  pint  of  beer,  in  twenty-four  hours. 

Alcohol,  habitually  or  occasionally,  is  no  more  re- 
quired by  the  ordinary  man  of  twenty-five  than  by 
^  .       the  boy  of  fifteen.     Its  use  in  health  only 

morbific  disturbs  health,  leading  to  numerous  dis- 
eases some  of  which,  of  course,  may  also 
depend  upon  other  causes,  nor  does  any  individual 
suffer  from  the  entire  catalogue.  But  so  much  ill 
health  ultimately  depends  upon   alcoholic  indulgence 


Alcohol  187 

that  the  habitual  drinker  both  lays  the  foundation  for 
serious  disturbance  and  steadily  builds  upon  it. 

Does  its  limited  nutritive  feature  allow  a  man  with 
insufficient  food-supply  to  do  more  work,  or  a  tired 
man  to  put  forth  renewed  exertion?     Small  quanti- 
ties of   spirits   may    act  as  supplementary  ^, 
fuel-food,    but    it    is    more   expensive   than  derfed  or 
ordinary  food  and   dangers    accompany  it. 
To  incite  to  renewed  exertion  when  fatigued,  is  another 
question.     Fatigue  involves  both  nerve-  and  muscle- 
cells;   chiefly  the  former,  which  become  exhausted  first 

and   recover  sooner.     Thus,  staleness  from 

...  ,     .  ,  .  r    ^  Fatigue 

overtrammg  is  a  relative  exhaustion  of  the 

central  nervous  system.  The  sense  of  fatigue,  distinct 
from  the  cause  of  fatigue,  depends  upon  the  circulation 
in  the  blood  of  the  debris  of  broken-down  cells,  and 
neither  alcohol  nor  anything  else  can  remove  that 
debris  from  the  blood.  However,  certain  excitants 
call  to  renewed  action  moderately,  or  even  greatly,  ex- 
hausted nerve-cells,  and  that  without  reac- 

TTT-  ,  •  1  -1        Excitants 

tion.  vVithout  reaction  merely  means  with- 
out a  subsequent  depression  due  to  the  agent  itself. 
It  does  not  mean  without  adding  to  the  sum  total  of 
fatigue  on  the  completion  of  the  work,  for  the  wear  of 
the  vital  machinery  is  one  measure  of  the  work  done. 
Excitants  do  not  re-create  nerve-cells  nor  increase 
their  number  or  their  vital  capacity,  but  some  extract 
from  them  remnants  of  force  without,  by  their  own 
nature,  pulling  back  again.  Alcohol,  on  the  other 
hand,  which  has  reaction,  is  not  one  of  these.     Modcr- 


1 88  Personal  Hygiene 

ate  amounts  of  alcohol  assist  immediately  and  tcm- 
porarily  in  muscular  work.    This  is  promptly 
muscular    and  invariably  followed  by  retrograde  action, 
^^*"  so  that  the  minimum  is  reached  in  about  half 

an  hour,  after  which  more  alcohol  shows  again  a  slight 
temporary  stimulation.  This  consecutive  paralysis  over- 
balances the  primitive  excitement,  and  the  aggregate 
work  done  under  alcohol  is  less  than  that  done  without 
it  and  would  be  represented  by  the  minus  sign.  Not 
taking  account  of  accuracy,  work  involving  no  severe 
muscular  draft  is  less;  but,  in  general,  moderate 
indulgence  in  alcohol  injures  the  quality  as  well  as 
diminishes  the  amount,  of  which  there  is  accumulated 
evidence  ranging  from  the  experience  of  typesetters 
and  telegraphers  to  that  of  navvies  and  heavy  diggers. 
This  seems  attributable  to  its  action  on  the  central 
nervous  system.  Alcoholic  loquacity  and  display  of 
emotion  are  not  to  be  confounded  with  true  stimula- 
tion.    Foster  and  Shore,  eminent  physiologists,  sum- 

„  .  „  .  marize  the  effect  of  alcohol  on  nervous  effi- 
Foster  and 

Shore  on  ciency  thus :  A  small  amount  may  promote 
the  action  of  the  central  nervous  system  and 
appears  to  quicken  thought  and  excite  the  imagination ; 
but  usually,  and  always  in  excess  of  small  quantities, 
it  diminishes  the  power  of  concentrated  thought  and 
judgment.  It  diminishes  susceptibility  to  sensory  im- 
pressions, and  blunts  all  the  special  senses.  As  it 
reduces  the  sensibility  to  cold  and  fatigue  and  allays 
mental  stress  and  worry,  it  is  often  resorted  to  under 
such  conditions  and  always  with  great  danger. 


Alcohol  189 

When  alcohol  is  said  to  affect  the  brain,  we  mean 
that  it  causes  a  more  rapid  flow  of  thought,  then 
loquacity,  unusual  exhibition  of  emotion,  5uccessive 
suspended  judgment  and  uncontrolled  pas-  effects  of 
sion  foUow,  and  finally  there  is  no  response 
to  sensation  and  no  motion  but  the  automatic  action  of 
the  lungs  and  heart.  Occasionally  these  movements 
also  cease;  but  even  while  life  is  technically  present,  the 
mind  is  overpowerec  and  the  body  paralyzed.  The 
most  immediate  and  striking  action  of  Action  on 
alcohol  is  on  the  brain.  Even  the  moderate  *^®  brain 
use  of  wine  induces  psychological  changes,  although  not 
noticeable  by  any  except  the  closest  observers  of  their 
own  mental  states.  The  essential  motive  for  drinking 
alcohol  is  to  affect  appreciably  the  nervous  system,  not 
to  quench  thirst.  "  The  reason  for  craving  alcohol  is 
that  it  is  an  anaesthetic,  even  in  moderate  quantities. 
It  obliterates  a  part  of  the  field  of  consciousness  and 
abolishes  collateral  trains  of  thought"  (W.  James). 
Four  tenths  of  one  part  per  thousand  (.0004)  of  body- 
weight  noticeably  affects  the  brain.     That     ^ 

.         .      .  ,  Quantity 

is,  a  trifle  over  half  a  pmt  of  wme  contain- 
ing ten  per  cent,  alcohol  will  induce  in  a  person  weigh- 
ing 150  lbs.  sufflcient  cerebral  change  to  be  studied. 
A  much  smaller  quantity  in  one  unaccustomed  to  its 
use  occasions  alteration  appreciable  to  his  own  con- 
sciousness. Simple  reaction-time  is  short-  Psychical 
cncd  by  moderate  quantities  of  alcohol,  but  ®*f^*^ts 
processes  that  involve  working  up  concepts  arc  not 
facilitated.     Ability  in  memorizing  and  adding  figures 


190  Personal  Hygiene 

decreases.  Eye  measurements  are  distinctly  depressed 
by  a  bottle  of  wine.  Large  quantities  diminish  acute- 
ncss  of  smell  and  touch,  "Alcohol  tends  to  lessen  the 
power  of  clear  and  consecutive  reasoning,  and  its 
action  on  the  higher  centres  resembles  fatigue  of  the 
brain,  although  associated  with  greater  motor  energy 
and  ease."  Under  the  influence  of  good  wine  "re- 
straints are  removed,  too  acute  sensibilities  are  blunted, 
little  acerbities  are  smoothed  down,  ideas  and  mental 
images  follow  each  other  with  greater  rapidity,  there 
is  a  cerebral  sense  of  richness,  and  lastly  a  condition 
of  euphoria,  a  more  serene  state  of  consciousness, 
ensues."  It  is  open  to  grave  question  whether  such 
temporary  serenity  is  worth  certain  accompanying 
risks,  presently  to  be  explained.  But  even  this  serenity 
is  not  attained  by  all.  A  man  of  the  explosive  type 
who  drinks  acquires  motor  energy  and  ease  through 
Removes  the  absence  of  scruples,  of  consideration  of 
restraint  consequences,  and  in  the  extraordinary 
simplification  of  each  moment's  outlook.  As  James 
expresses  it,  the  inhibitive  type  of  mind  is  turned  into 
the  "hair-trigger"  type.  Larger  quantities  cause  a 
lack  of  emotional  control,  affect  the  power  of  attention, 
clear  judgment,  and  reason,  lower  the  acuteness  of 
the  senses,  and  frequently  anaesthetic  action  leads  to 
all  the  phenomena  of  intoxication,  ending  in  drunken 
sleep. 

One  school  of  psychologists  regards  the  primary 
action  of  alcohol  as  depressant  for  certain  higher  and 
inore  easily  influenced  brain-processes.     In  that  view 


Alcohol 


191 


alcohol  paralyzes  the  central  inhibitory  mechanism. 
As  Professor  James  expresses  it,  "inhibition  Depressant 
is  an  essential  and  unremitting  element  of  action 
our  cerebral  life."  In  more  homely  phrase,  the  brakes 
are  always  on.  Now  if  some  of  these  inhibitory  func- 
tions are  weakened  or  paralyzed  before  other    r.      ,     . 

^         ■'  Paralysis 

qualities  are  enfeebled,  a  loss  of  the  finer    of  inhibit 

shades  of  restraint  is  an  early  consequence. 
The  nominal  excitement  thus  becomes  merely  incoordi- 
nation of  the  psychical  activities.  With  the  balance- 
wheel  impaired  the  works  run  irregularly.  As  its 
anaesthetic  quality  removes  the  normal  restraints  of 
reason  and  the  activities  of  speech  and  gesture  are 
freer  and  less  hampered,  it  is  superficially  assumed  that 
the  brain  is  "stimulated."  The  subject's  own  self- 
deception  points  to  its  paralyzing  effect.  That  is,  the 
stimulation  is  "fictitious  and  is  in  reality  due  to  the 
removal  of  the  barriers  of  self-restraint  by  the  paralysis 
of  the  higher  functions."  It  is  of  little  consequence 
whether  we  call  the  route  by  which  they  are  reached 
stimulation  or  depression,  if  wc  keep  in  mind  the 
actual  results.  Alcohol  certainly  removes  the  curb 
over  certain  propensities;  we  must  hope  that  it  excites 
others.  If  not,  if  the  terrible  examples  of  brutality, 
of  heartless  cruelty  and  ruffianly  licentiousness,  as 
well  as  the  minor  violations  of  social  decorum  that 
it  leads  to,  are  merely  the  escape  of  the  natural  man 
from  his  keeper,  arc  simply  normal  passions  with 
relaxed  restraint,  we  well  may  look  upon  ourselves 
with  horror. 


192  Personal  Hygiene 

Liqueurs  and  cordials,  primarily  after-dinner  drinks 

in  certain  circles  and  gradually  coming  into  greater 

vogue,  are  strong  alcoholic  preparations 
Liqueurs  '='  °  ^     ^ 

flavored  with  vegetable  extracts,  some- 
times sweetened,  and  frequently  colored.  Of  these 
absinthe  and  maraschino  are  typical  illustrations. 
Absinthe  is  particularly  perilous.     It  contains,  accord- 

.    .    .        ing   to  its  variety,  from  47  to  80  per  cent. 
Absinthe        ^    ,     ,     ,  ....         .  .  f    , 

of  alcohol,  and  it  derives  its  special  charac- 
ter from  the  oil  of  wormwood  and  other  aromatics. 
The  coloring  matter  also  is  occasionally  hurtful.  The 
great  proportion  of  alcohol  is  necessarily  deleterious, 
but  the  aromatics,  especially  the  wormwood  from 
which  it  derives  its  name,  act  directly  upon  the  nervous 
system  and  wreck  it  in  a  distressing  way.  With  all  of 
these,  hallucinations  commence  sooner  than  with  the 
use  of  mere  alcohol,  but  absinthe  in  particular  dis- 
integrates the  nerve-cells  and  predisposes  to  epilepti- 
form disorders.  The  mischief  of  an  ordinary  drink 
of  brandy  is  so  much  intensified  in  absinthe  that  com- 
parison can  scarcely  be  formulated.  The  absinthe 
habit,  which  seems  to  be  peculiarly  enticing,  is  recog- 
nized in  France  as  so  disastrous  that  to  drink  absinthe 
is  absolutely  prohibited  in  the  army,  and  associations 
exist  to  discourage  its  use  in  civil  life.  Young  men 
are  liable  to  take  the  after-dinner  cordial  as  a  tribute 
to  polite  custom,  ignorant  of  the  extraordinary  and 
increasing  harm  every  such  indulgence  may  inflict. 
We  may  hope  that  it  is  offered  in  equal  ignorance. 

The  explanations  presented  for  both  the  harmfulness 


Alcohol  193 

and  the  innocuoiisncss  of  alcohol  are  sometimes  more 

sentimental  than  scientific.     One  group  de-    p  .  . 

nounces  it  as  a  constant  and  invariable  poison,    character 
,         ,         11     .  ^  of  alcohol 

m  any  amount  and  under  all  circumstances. 

Another  maintains  that  a  pure  lic|uor  may  be  taken  habit- 
ually in  considerable  quantities,  not  only  without  harm 
but  usually  with  advantage,  and  that  the  evil  is  entirely 

due  to  adulterations.     The  quality  of  being         ^  . 

.  .  .  Poison 

poisonous  is  usually  an  accident  of  its  condi- 
tions rather  than  an  essential  attribute  of  any  substance. 
There  are  conditions  under  which  every  drug  com- 
monly classed  as  poisonous  may  be  used  with  bene- 
ficial, rather  than  injurious,  results.  An  alcoholic 
beverage  honestly  made,  sufficiently  diluted,  and  taken 
at  a  seasonable  occasion  and  in  a  proper  amount  can- 
not be  regarded  poisonous  in  the  common  use  of  the 
word.  Further,  adulterants,  in  the  sense  of  deleterious 
substances  intentionally  added,  are  rare,  even  .  ,  ,, 
in  the  low-grade  lic|uors  sold  over  the  com-  ants  and 
monest  bars.  But  impurities  from  irregular  ""P""  '®* 
distillation  are  common  and  harmful.  Thus  toxic  alco- 
hols, that  is  others  than  the  ethyl  alcohol  which  is  the 
basis  of  the  commoner  beverages,  from  badly  rectified 
spirits,  collectively  known  as  fusel-oil,  may  be  danger- 
ously present,  although  less  prevalent  than  generally 
supposed.  vSpurious  liquors,  made  outright  from 
diluted  alcohol,  flavored  with  essences  and  colored  with 
vegetable  matter,  usually  contain  nothing  more  injuri- 
ous than  the  alcohol  itself;  and  ahhough  the  " essences" 
may    som-jtim-js    be    hurtful,    the    liquors    themselves 


194  Personal  Hygiene 

arc  generally  freer  than   genuine   brandy  or   whiskey 

from  the  products  of  the  higlier  distillation.     There 

is  a  recent  contention  that,  in  its  eagerness  to  get  as 

much  spirit  as  possible,   modern  distilling 

disintegrates   the  grain  so   completely  that 

under  heat  and  acids  furfural  (from  the  husk  of  the 

grain)  and  other  aldehydes  pass  over.     It  is  supposed 

that  the  real  advantage  of  the  older  over  the  newer 

grades,  of  the  output  of  the  individual  still  as  against 

that    of  high-pressure  money-making    establishments 

is  that  they  contain  less  of  the  products  of  extreme 

decomposition,  and  that  alcohol  from  which  furfural 

is  removed  is  free  from  the  pernicious  agents  found  in 

that  in  which  it  remains.     This  view  is  not  sustained 

by  all  investigators,  for  some  hold  that,  whatever  its 

character,   the  proportion  of  furfural,   at  least,  is  so 

small  as   to  be  negligible.     However  if  the  furfural 

hypothesis  is  correct  it  is  possible  that,  notwithstanding 

the  low  range  of  fusel-oil  proper,  the  cheap  genuine 

whiskeys  are  intrinsically  hurtful  beyond  the  action  cf 

the  alcohol  itself. 

But  in  its  broad   effects  the  drink  evil,  whether  for 

one  man  or  a  community,  depends  not  upon  possible 

adulterations  but   upon   the   abuse   of  ethyl   alcohol, 

.,    .    ,       the    ordinary    intoxicant    of    the    common 
Alcohol  a  ... 

cause  of       beverages.     The  objective    evils    of  drunk- 
disease  1        1 

enness  are  so  patent  that  they  require  no  re- 
hearsal nor  explanation.  But  there  is  much  ill  health  to 
which  alcohol  is  a  contributing  or  an  active  cause  whose 
origin  is  not  popularly  appreciated.      Thus  Bright's  dis- 


Alcohol  195 

ease,  or  congestion  of  the  liver,  or  a  variety  of  neuritis, 
may  be  reported  as  a  cause  of  illness  without  distinguish- 
ing whether  it  has  an  alcoholic  or  a  more  innocent  begin- 
ning. Practically  alcohol  is  taken  as  a  beverage  simply  to 
alter  the  range  of  emotional  life.  As  already  observed, 
"it  is  an  anaesthetic.  ...  It  obliterates  a  Action 
part  of  the  field  of  consciousness,"  and  mani-  nervous 
festly  this  occurs  by  its  direct  action  on  the  system 
nervous  system.  During  acute  intemperance  it  is  prob- 
able that  an  actual  change  takes  place  in  the  nerve-cells 
themselves,  although  this  has  not  been  demonstrated. 
Fortunately  they  regain  their  normal  state  after  re- 
covery from  an  occasional  drunken  attack;  but  it  is 
easy  to  believe  that  with  each  renewal  of  the  strain 
they  become  more  and  more  unstable  and  less  and 
less  capable  of  fulfiHing  the  requirements  of  healthful 
exertion.  This  special  affinity  of  alcohol  for  the 
nervous  system  is  notorious,  ranging  from  the  flushed 
face  of  vaso-motor  disturbance,  through  the  loquacity 
of  lost  self-control,  to  the  delirium  and  shameless 
stupor  of  the  final  stage.  These  aberrations  increase 
in  range  with  repetition,  and  the  instabihty  of  the 
nervous  centres  becomes  greater  and  greater.  Such 
indulgences  rarely  induce  insanity  or  even  epilepsy  in 
perfectly  normal  persons,  as  sometimes  charged;  but 
there  "remain  cases  enough  in  which  alcoholic  poison- 
ing is  the  cause  of  serious  disease  of  the  brain,  spinal 
cord,  and  nerves  in  persons  of  previously  normal  consti- 
tution." Besides  the  more  conspicuous  consequences, 
of  which  delirium  tremens  and  inflammation  of  the 


196  Personal  Hygiene 

nerve-trunks  (neuritis)  may  be  taken  as  illustrations, 
there  are  conditions  depending  upon  closely  allied 
nervous  changes,  among  which,  not  to  make  an  ex- 
haustive list,  are  thickening  of  the  membranes  enclos- 
ing the  brain,  v^asting  of  the  folds  of  the  brain  itself, 
brittleness  of  the  arteries,  and  increase  of  the  neuroglia 
in  the  superficial  layers  v^^ith  consequent  compression 
of  the  brain-cells  there.  If  the  brain  deteriorates, 
the  mind  whose  agent  it  is  suffers.  But,  besides, 
.  closely  dependent  upon  prolonged  alcoholic 
indulgence  is  a  toxaemia,  or  poisoning  of 
the  blood,  due  to  that  excess,  so  that  the  intervention 
of  an  acute  disease  like  pneumonia,  surgical  shock 
or  accidental  injury,  tuberculosis,  privation,  or  some 
similar  accessory  cause,  may  disturb  the  balance  and  a 
crash  follows.  The  character  of  the  nervous  change 
Nervous  may  be  illustrated  by  the  different  conse- 
change  quences  to  the  vision  that  occasionally,  by 
no  means  uniformly  or  even  frequently,  follow  the 
abuse  of  tobacco  and  of  alcohol.  Tobacco  may  induce 
amaurosis,  a  loss  of  sight  from  functional  causes, 
which  passes  off  after  cessation  of  the  indulgence. 
The  damage  by  alcohol  is  a  positive  change  in  the 
nerve  itself,  which  abstinence  does  not  relieve. 

As  just  intimated,  the  habitual  use  of  alcohol  is 
responsible  for  much  sickness  as  well  as  for  many 
Patholo2i=  deaths.  For  example,  one  of  its  effects  is 
cal  action  to  render  the  coats  of  an  artery  brittle. 
Now  when  a  brittle  artery  in  the  brain 
snaps,  apoplexy  occurs.     The  cause  is  lost  sight  of  in 


Alcohol  197 

the  effect.  Nor  should  we  confuse  minor  with  general 
conditions,  for  alcohol  does  not  damage  the  arteries  of  all 
any  more  than  all  apoplexy  is  due  to  alcohol.  For  a 
recent  period  of  twelve  years,  when  recognized  as  a 
contributing  cause  of  death  alcohol  has  been  thus 
noted  on  the  mortality  reports  of  Switzerland,  which 
is  classed  as  a  country  where  its  use  is  moderate. 
During  this  time  the  percentage  of  men  Swiss 
over  twenty  years  of  age  dying  from  its  statistics 
direct  or  its  indirect  effects  has  been  ten.  One  man  in 
ten  of  those  who  died,  died  of  drinking  habits;  and  it 
is  easily  supposable  that  the  natural  disposition  to 
conceal  such  a  cause  in  certain  social  grades  makes 
this  a  minimum  report.  It  is  not  creditable  to  drink 
oneself  to  death,  even  indirectly.  But  "alcoholic 
diseases  are  not  limited  to  persons  recognized  as 
drunkards."  An  increasing  number  of  cases  of  dis- 
ease of  the  circulation,  of  the  kidneys,  and  of  the 
nervous  system  are  being  reasonably  at-  Moderate 
tributed  to  this  cause  in  persons  who  never  drinking 
became  intoxicated  and  who  have  always  been  re- 
garded by  themselves  and  by  others  as  "moderate 
drinkers."  There  are  no  trustworthy  figures  of  the 
frequency  with  such  minor  indulgence  causes  disease, 
but  it  is  only  natural  to  suppose  that,  if  the  direct 
mortality  is  so  great,  the  incidental  non-fatal  mor- 
bidity must  be  very  considerable.  It  is  well  established 
that  those  whose  occupations  tempt  them  to  drink 
have  a  higher  mortality,  and  we  may  believe  a  higher 
sick-rate,  than  others  from  diseases  of  the  liver,  kidneys, 


% 


198  Personal  Hygiene 

heart  and  blood-vessels,  and  the  nervous  system,  and 
indeed  a  higher  general  mortality.  The  evidence  that 
alcoholic  excess  injures  the  kidneys  is  very  strong. 
This  is  true  of  beer  as  well  as  of  spirits,  and  the  beer- 
heart  and  the  beer-kidneys  are  apt  to  go  together. 
The  arteries  gradually  harden,  and  fat  forms  in  excess 
not  only  on  the  surface  of  the  heart,  but,  which  is  more 
dangerous,  between  its  fibres.  Sometimes  general 
Alcoholic  alcoholic  obesity  interferes  with  the  heart's 
obesity  normal  action.  The  disturbance  of  nutri- 
tion which  leads  to  the  obesity  of  alcoholism  is  most 
common  in  the  drinkers  of  malt  liquors,  and  some- 
times not  only  is  the  liver  loaded  with  fat,  but  an 
excess  of  fat  appears  in  the  drunkard's  blood.  Fat 
beyond  the  need  of  the  system  is  not  a  sign  of  health, 
and  certainly  fat  in  the  blood  is  out  of  place.  Un- 
reasonable beer-drinking  gives  one  its  signs  in  the  full, 
rounded,  frequently  flushed,  face,  often  with  a  peculiar 
Beer=  glossiness,   which    represents    precisely  the 

drinker's  reverse  of  the  robust  health  that  generally 
face 

it  is  supposed  to  mean.    The  plump,  smooth 

skin,  like  a  child's,  but  without  a  cliild's  delicacy,  too 
full  especially  about  the  cheek-bone  and  the  lower  jaw, 
puffy  as  closely  observed,  means  more  than  the  begin- 
Beer=  ning   of   a   change.     The   inveterate   beei- 

drinker  drinker,  frequently  gross  and  unwieldy  in 
body  and  often  dull  and  irresponsive  in  mind,  is  an 
unmitigated  nuisance  to  others,  and  his  more  important 
internal  organs  gradually  deteriorate.  The  wine- 
drinker,  and  often  the  beer-drinker,  is  in  the  end  apt 


Alcohol  199 

to  become  the  spirit-drinker  also.  The  languid,  im- 
perceptible, and  progressive  changes  from  Secondary 
the  normal  increase,  while  they  mask,  the  ^**®cts 
evil.  The  best-knovv^n  of  the  slowly  arriving  penalties 
is  gout,  usually  laid  upon  the  next  generation  as  well; 
but  gout  is  relatively  harmless,  as  compared  with  the 
insidious  undermining  of  the  system  at  large. 

The  moral  side  of  the  question,  whose  deplorable 
evils  deserve  serious  attention,  is  no  part  of  this  dis- 
cussion; but  physically  the  periodical,  not  the  habitual, 
drunkard  is — excluding  risks  of  violence — less  liable 
to  damage  his  health  permanently  than  the  Periodical 
regular  moderate  drinker.  He  who  plunges  *'*"*"'^®r 
into  an  occasional  wild  and  senseless  drinking-bout 
and  is  abstinent  in  the  interval  (always  excepting  the 
great  risk  from  violence  and  the  disgrace  that  he 
inflicts  upon  himself  and  his  friends)  has  a  better 
prospect  of  comparative  health  than  the  other  whose 
daily  dram,  gradually  increasing  under  whatever 
name  or  by  whatever  excuse,  besides  inaugurating 
physical  degeneracy,  handicaps  his  organs  against 
those  diseases  which,  at  one  time  or  another,  arc  the 
common  heritage.  Grave  nervous  complications  sud- 
denly arise  in  alcoholics  under  the  cooperative  in- 
fluence of  pneumonia,  injury,  surgical  shock,  priva- 
tion, and  some  other  conditions.  And  by  "alcoholics" 
is  not  meant  merely  obvious  drunkards,  but  those 
who,  day  by  day,  under  the  pretence  of  fortifying 
themselves,  are  really  weakening  their  powers  of  re- 
sistance by   the  ingestion  of  alcohol.     The  drinking 


200  Personal  Hygiene 

habit  distinctly  lowers  the  power  of  withstanding  many 
infectious  diseases,  as  shown  in  both  the  increased 
liability  to  contract  disease  and  the  greater  severity 
of  the  disease  itself.  Those  attacked  with  pneumonia, 
Influence  erysipelas,  cholera,  infectious  dysentery, 
on  disease  ^.^^^^  other  communicable  affections,  among 
which  typhoid  fever  should  probably  be  included, 
have  a  smaller  chance  of  recovery.  It  was  formerly 
supposed  that  the  free  use  of  alcoholic  drinks  afforded 
a  degree  of  protection  against  contracting  tuberculosis 
and  substantially  aided  in  its  treatment.  Alcohol  not 
In  tuber=  only  affords  no  protection  against,  but  it 
culosis  appears  to  increase  the  predisposition  to, 
consumption.  Not  that  it  directly  induces  that  dis- 
ease, but  it  so  diminishes  the  resisting  power  of  the 
body  that  the  bacillus  when  introduced  is  less  easily 
destroyed.  Certainly  in  alcoholic  patients  its  course 
is  often  more  rapid  than  in  others. 

This  chapter  refers  to  the  use  of  ethyl  alcohol  in 
its  various  forms  as  a  beverage.  It  is  important  to 
Wood  emphasize     the     fact     that    wood    alcohol 

alcohol  (methyl  alcohol),  extensively  used  in  the 
arts,  is  a  deadly  poison,  immediate  in  its  effect,  so 
that  in  justice  to  the  community,  especially  to  those 
ignorant  of  the  distinction,  every  container  of  it  should 
be  distinctly  marked  Poison.  Frequent  deaths  occur 
from  its  being  drunk  by  those  who  do  not  know  its 
true  character. 

Ordinarily  when  the  physical  changes  induced  by  an 
article  of  food  or  drink  are  discussed,  the  subject  is 


Alcohol  Sol 

ended.  But  in  relation  to  alcohol  the  influence  of 
habit,  not  only  the  ease  with  which  nerv-  The  drink= 
ous  action  repeats  itself  but  the  tendency  habit 
to  such  repetition,  must  always  be  remembered.  This 
repetition  is  not  hmitcd  to  thoughts  or  emotions, 
but  it  extends  to  conditions  based  upon  the  pleasurable 
excitation  of  certain  nervous  areas.  Now  the  drink- 
habit,  whether  of  beer  or  whiskey,  is  founded  upon  no 
natural  impulse,  no  spontaneous  desire.  The  craving 
that  maintains  it  is  purely  artificial  and  rests  upon  no 
normal  physical  demand.  As  previously  explained, 
alcohol  is  essentially  a  narcotic,  and  like  all  narcotic 
habits  this  constantly  seeks  further  indulgence.  No 
healthy  person  requires  alcohol  any  more  than  he  needs 
opium.  The  essential  point  is  that  the  very  narrow 
limit  within  which  the  body  can  legitimately  use  alcohol 
is  soon  passed,  so  that  dependence  upon  it  Proneness 
and  craving  for  more  constantly  press  *^  grow 
toward  greater  indulgence.  This  is  particularly  true  in 
the  plastic  period  of  hfe,  which  for  the  nervous  system 
extends  beyond  thai  for  the  bones  and  the  muscles. 
Very  few  understand  their  own  limitations  or  can  be 
sure  not  to  exceed  them,  and  no  youth  before  he 
yields  to  temptation  knows  how  easy  it  is  to  fall. 
"All  men  are  mortal — except  ourselves."  Others  may 
become  drunkards,  but  we  will  not.  Nevertheless 
every  drunkard,  and  especially  every  man  weakened 
by  drink,  becomes  such  only  after  he  has  begun  to 
drink.  The  doctrine,  sedulously  maintained  by  a 
certain  class  seeking  an  excuse,  that  "abstinence  from 


ao2  Personal  Mygiena 

fear  of  excess  argues  a  defective  moral  power  and  is  a 
species  of  cowardice,"  is  false.  As  a  rule,  less  strength 
of  mind  is  exhibited  in  drinking,  that  is  in  yielding  to 
inclination  or  persuasion,  than  in  refraining.  There 
are  innumerable  illustrations  of  youths,  so  taught  at 
home,  doubtless  in  good  faith,  by  parents  possessed 
with  an  undue  confidence  of  self-control,  who  con- 
stantly recruit  those  ranks  of  the  ultimately  infirm. 
Some,  alas  women  as  well  as  men,  condone  occasional 
alcohohc  dissipation  as  evidence  of  animal  vigor,  as  a 
sign  of  spirit,  and  look  with  forbearance,  if  not  with 
pride,  even  upon  their  sons  and  their  brothers  who  allow 
the  demands  of  so-called  good-fellowship  and  vital  en- 
ergy to  overpower  the  mind  and  sicken  the  body.  No 
one  v^hose  years  are  many  but  may  recite  a  long  list  of 
those  who  began  to  drink  during  the  newly-acquired 
freedom  of  undergraduate  days,  possibly  encouraged  by 
moderate  example  at  home,  and  afterward  filled  unhon- 
ored  graves.  Almost  every  one  can  call  to  remembrance 
families  distressed  in  various  ways  by  the  consequences 
of  alcoholic  intemperance,  always  from  inconsiderable 
beginnings,  and  to  some  that  distress  may  be  nearer 
at  hand.  It  is  sadly  true  that  few  escape  such  a 
blot,  either  upon  their  living  or  upon  those  not  long 
dead.  It  becomes  every  young  man,  above  all  every 
educated  young  man  upon  whom  the  responsibility 
of  exam.ple  also  rests,  not  to  add  to  the  num.ber. 

Some  offer  for  themselves,  some  present  for  others, 
as  an  excuse  the  plea  that  heredity  has  set  its  stamp 
so  that  the  sins  and  weaknesses  of  the  fathers  rest  with 


Alcohol  203 

the  children.     It   is    a   false  plea.      If  a  young   man 

suspects  that  he  has  inherited  an  unstable      ^ 

.       .  Heredity 

nervous  organization,  one  poisoned  by  this 

subtle  venom,  it  is  by  so  much  his  graver  duty  to 
avoid  the  slightest  risk,  both  for  his  own  sake  and  for 
those  who  may  come  after  him,  as  well  as  for  those 
to  whom  he  is  bound  by  the  ties  of  interest  and  affec- 
tion. If  one  has  a  friend  with  such  an  ancestral 
strain,  he  should  not  add  temptation  to  that  burden. 
Still  less  may  those  in  positions  where  authority  and 
example  carry  weight,  by  offering  the  example  or  pre- 
senting the  invitation  to  youths  whose  bodily,  mental, 
and  moral  habits  are  in  the  determining  stage,  risk 
setting  in  operation  that  singular  nervous  law  of 
habit  and  desire.  Beer  and  wine  open  the  road  to 
spirits  and  further  peril.  No  one,  comrade  or  Lost, 
can  know  the  vital  history  of  all  his  acquaintances, 
nor  against  what  they  have  to  contend;  and  he  has 
no  right  to  risk  spreading  a  net,  even  without  intent, 
before  uncertain  feet.     We  are  our  brothers'  keepers. 


Index 

PAGE 

Abdomen,  the 52 

protection  for 143 

Absinthe 192 

Acids,  vegetable 147 

Acne 121 

Ague-cake 55 

Air,  blood  made  by 34 

complemental 22 

contaminated 34 

night 34 

residual 22 

tidal 22 

Air-passages,  collapse  of 20 

straining  of 19 

Albuminoids 146 

Alcohol,  adulterations  of 193 

as  beverage,  maximum  amount 186 

body-heat  and 185 

brain,  action  on,  of 189 

depressant  action  of 190 

digestion  and 184 

disease  due  to 194 

influence  upon,  of 200 

drinking,  reason  for 189 

energy  supplied  by 185 

in  fatigue 187 

Foster  and  Shore  on 188 

205 


2o6  Index 

PAGE 

Alcohol  as  fuel 187 

heat-centre  depressed  by 185 

as  medicine 184 

morbific  effect  of 186 

muscular  work  and 188 

a  narcotic 184 

nervous  system,  action  upon,  of 195 

oxidation  of 150 

paralysis  of  inhibition  by 191 

pathological  action  of 196 

popular  views  of 183,  193 

psychical  effects  of 189 

in  tuberculosis 200 

wood 200 

Alcoholics,  heredity  of 203 

AlveoH  of  the  lungs 18 

Amaurosis  from  tobacco 171 

Anatomy 2 

Aniline  dye 139 

Ankle,  the 9 

Antiscorbutics 148 

Appendicitis 54,  70 

Appendix  vermiformis 53 

Areolar  tissue 115 

Arm,  the 6,  23 

Astigmatism 43 

Astragalus,  the 9 

Atlas,  the 4 

Atmosphere,  the 3^ 

contaminating  gases  in 34 

makes  blood. "    34 

Auricles,  the 25 

Auto-intoxication 66 

Automatic  centres  in  the  spine 45 

Axis,  the 4 

Balance  exercises 95 

Baldness 116 

Basket-ball 79 

Bath,  cold 130 


Index 


207 


PAGE 

Bath,  hot joi 

neglect  of 132 

Beans ir,- 

Beaumont,  William 64 

Beer-drinking jng 

Beer-heart 108 

Beer-kidneys jng 

Belts,  waist 242 

Benson,  E.  F y^ 

Beyer,  Henry  G 80 

Bile,  the e  i- 

Biscuit 1^3 

Bitters 14^ 

Blackheads j2o 

Bladder,  gall r  e 

urinary eg 

Blisters  of  the  foot 122 

Blood,  the 104 


amount  of. 


35 


changes  during  circulation  of loir 

course  of 25,  20 

loss  of,  non-fatal ^e 

nature  of ^2 

Blood-corpuscles,  red .33,104 


white. 


104 


Blood-vessels 29 

Blushing 32,  115 

Boating yg 

Bones,  the 2 

centres  of  growth  in ■, 

Bowels,  care  of  the 68 

Brain,  the 5>  38 

action  of  alcohol  on 180 

centres  of  action  in 4=1,  46 

growth  of ■^6 

weight  of 3Q 

Bran 152 

Bread,  constitution  of 71^2 


as 


food. 


^■^1 


heavy , 1^2 


2o8  Index 

PAGB 

Bread,  hot - 152 

a  proteid-carrier 153 

stale 153 

toasted 153 

Breathing  is  blood-making 21 

mechanism  of 19 

normal 86 

Breathing-exercises 99 

Breathlessness.  ... 90 

Bronchi 17 

Bunions 10,  122 

Callosities 122 

Callus 3,  5 

Cancer  and  tobacco 167 

Calorie 150 

Capacity,  vital 22 

Capillaries,  the 3i>  35 

of  the  lungs 18,  20 

osmotic  action  in. . 31 

Carbon,  escape  from  the  lungs  of 112 

Carbon  dioxide 20,  32,  112 

Carbon  monoxide 169 

Carriage,  physical 92 

Cartilage,  costal 24 

spinal 4 

Celluloid  as  clothing 140 

Centres,  reflex  nervous 42 

Cheese,  digestibility  of 58 

as  food 156 

Chest,  the 22 

contents  of 23 

defective 21 

girth  dwarfed  by  tobacco 177 

importance  of 23 

pigeon-breasted 91 

shape  of 90 

Chest-measurement » . . .     22 

Chest-mobility 22 

Chest-protector • 141 


Index  209 


PAGE 

Children,  inactivity  as  affecting loi 

play  required  by loi 

Cigarettes. 174,  179 

adulteration  of 174 

Clavicle,  the 5 

CUmate,  humidity  an  element  of 117 

Clothing,  conspicuousness  of 135 

materials  for 136 

object  of 134 

odors  absorbed  by - 135 

temperature  as  depending  upon 134 

w^et 126 

Coccyx,  the 7 

Coecum,  the 53 

Coffee 160 

Cold,  alcohol  in  relation  to  extreme 185 

catching 124 

Colds,  avoidance  of 127 

infectious 127 

"little" 87 

Collar-bone,  the •  5 

Collars 141 

Complexion,  the i  iS 

Constipation. 66 

Consumption 24 

Contests,  over-strain  in  athletic 24 

Control  experiment,  nature  of 107 

Convolutions  of  the  brain 38 

Cord,  spinal 39 

Cordials - 192 

Corn-meal ^54 

Corns « 122 

Corpuscles,  red 33>  i°4 

white 104 

Cotton  as  clothing 136 

Cranium,  the 4 

Craving 178 

Cricket 78 

Custom  and  tobacco 181 


2IO  Index 

PAGE 

Decaigne 172,  176 

Depression  and  reaction 175 

Dermis,  the 114 

Dewey,  Edward  H 58 

Diarrhoea,  character  of 112 

Diet,  single 148 

mixed 151 

summary  as  to 161 

Digestion 57,  63,  64 

effect  of  alcohol  on 184 

tobacco  on 176 

gastric 63 

nervous  draft  in 44 

oral 57 

Dilatation  of  the  heart 84 

Disease  due  to  alcohol 194 

Dislocation 12 

Drawing  impaired  by  tobacco   172 

Drink,  strong 183 

Drinker,  habitual 201 

periodical 199 

Drinking,  moderate 197 

Drowning 17 

Dyes,  aniline 139 

in  clothing 139 

Ears,  care  of,  in  the  water 129 

Egbert,  S 161 

Eggs  as  food 155 

Emphysema.  . 20 

Energy  an  attribute  of  the  nervous  system 146 

transformation  of , 16 

Epidermis,  the 1 14 

Essences  for  spirituous  liquors, ,  193 

Excitants 187 

Execution,  legal,  by  hanging 4 

Exercise,  advantage  of 80 

amount  of 76 

effect  upon  the  lungs  of 83 

methods  of 76 


Index  ^ii 


PAGE 

fixercise  required  for  children. loi 

vs.  strength 74 

Exercises,  balance g6 

breathing qq 

general.  .  , gy 

physical-culture , 95 

Extremities,  the 2 

"Eye"  in  games. 46 

Eye-strain 4^ 

Faeces. 66 

Fasting,  food  after 144 

Fat  as  food 147 

Fatigue 106 

alcohol  in 187 

demonstration  of 107 

food  after. 109,  144 

recovery  from.  ,. 109 

rest  after, log 

sleep  after 109 

stimulants  useless  in no 

Fear,  reflex  action  in 45 

Feet,  care  of  the. 10,  11,  12,  123,  132 

wet 142 

Femur,  the 9 

Fencing . 78 

Fibula,  the. 9 

Fish  as  food 1^5 

Fissure  of  the  anus.  . 69 

Flannel 138 

Canton 138 

"sanitary" 138 

Flavor,  recognition  of 1^8 

Flesh,  excess  of,  in  food  hurtful 113 

Folds  of  the  brain 38 

Food 144 

albuminoif! 146 

alcohol  as 181; 

fuel T87 

classes  of 145 


^12  Index 

PAGE 

Food  after  fatigue .,.,..  109 

fats  and  oils  in 147 

heat  yielded  by 157 

intemperance  in  use  of 150 

proteid. 145 

in  relation  to  sleep 145 

survival  without 158 

variety  required  in 148 

Foot,  arch  of  the 10 

ball  of  the 10 

Football,  Association 77 

Rugby 77 

simple 77 

Forearm,  the 6 

Foster  and  Shore '. 188 

Fracture. 12  ' 

Freckles 115 

Furfural 194 

Fusel-oil 193 

Gall-bladder 55 

Ganglia 40 

Games 76 

Gastric  juice,  function  of 63 

Gihon,  A.  L 172 

Golf 78 

Gould,  G.  M 43 

Gray  nervous  matter 38,  47 

Gristle 14 

Growth  as  affected  by  cigarettes 177 

exercise 81 

Gullet,  the 17 

Gum,  chewing 60 

Habit,  demand  created  by. 165 

Habits 48 

Haemorrhage,  water  in 62 

Haemorrhoids ^ 68 

Hair,  the 116 

gray 116 


Index  ±1^ 


PAGE 

Handkerchief,  the 87 

Hanging,  execution  by.  . . 4 

Hat,  the 140 

Haunch- bones,  the 6 

Head 5 

Heart,  the 25 

in  relation  to  calibre  of  arteries 102 

as  affected  by  concussion 44 

dilatation  of 84,  102 

exercise  as  affecting 84,  loi 

growth  of , 26 

irritable 30,  172 

as  affected  by  rheumatism. 28 

strain 27,  84 

structure  of. 25 

tobacco 172 

Heat  generated  by  foo.'.. 157 

of  body  adjusted  by  radiation 157 

Heat-centre  depressed  by  alcohol 185 

Heaves 20 

Heredity  in  alcoholics 203 

Hidrosis , 133 

Hip-bones,  the 8 

Hockey 77 

Hollander,  B 39 

Holmes,  O.  W , 38 

Hopkins,  S.  A 72 

Hot  bath 131 

Humerus,  the 6 

Humidity  an  element  of  climate 117 

Hutchison,  R 154,  159 

Idiots,  the  brain  of.  . 38 

Immaturity,  physical 11 

Impulse,  rate  of  nervous 46 

India-rubber  as  clothing.  . 139 

Indigestion,  intestinal 60 

Infants,  the  brain  of 38 

Innominata,  the 7 

Instep,  the 8 


St4  !nde3£ 


Intemperance  in  eating 150 

Intestine,  the  large 53,  65 

the  small 53,  64 

Intoxication  defined 184 

James,  William 189,  190-1 

Kidneys,  the 51; 

alcohol  as  affecting 114 

inflammation  of. 114 

in  scarlet  fever 114 

waste  escaping  from 112 

La  Crosse 79 

Leather  as  clothing 139 

Leg  bones,  the 9 

Legs,  the 23 

Legumes,  the 192 

Ligaments,  the 12 

Linen  as  clothing 136 

Liqueurs 192 

Liquor,  spurious 193 

Liver,  the 54 

after  alcoholic  excess 150 

circulation  in. 54 

urea  formed  in 150 

Lung-membrane,  the 18 

area  of 19 

Lungs,  the 18,  19 

exercise  as  affecting 83 

free  from  water  during  life 17 

Lymph 105 

Lymph-spaces 103 

McSherry,  Richard 172 

Maisch,  John  M 172 

Malted  food 60 

Mastication 57 

Meals,  number  of 63,  144 

Merino 138 


Index  215 


PAGE 

Miles,  E.  H 75 

Milk  as  food 155 

■  skim 1 62 

Mind,  duality  of  the 38 

Mouth-breathing 86 

Mortality  from  alcohol 157 

Muffler,  the 141 

Muscles,  the 14 

attachment  of 11,  13 

fibres  of,  torn 28 

involuntary 15 

striped 14 

unstriped 14 

voluntary 14 

Mussulmans,  abstinence  of 184 

Narcotic,  definition  of  a. 184 

Neck-wear 141 

Nerve-cell,  the 37 

Nerve-cells,  change  in 47 

Nerves,  the 40 

sympathetic,  the 40 

functions  of 41 

Nervous  action  repeats  itself 47.  48 

Nervous  impulse,  rate  of 46 

Nervous  matter,  gray 38 

white 38,  47 

restoration  of 48 

Neurasthenia 108 

Nicotine,  absorption  of 168 

action  of,  on  muscles 15,173 

effect  on  vaso-motor  nerves 170 

evidences  of,  visible 168 

physical  qualities  of ■. 163 

physiological  action  of 163 

taken  up  by  osmosis 169 

Night  air 34 

Nitrogen  in  food 146 

elimination  of. 149 

Nose-breathing 21,  86 


2 1 6  Index 

PAGE 

Oat-meal 154 

Obesity,  alcoholic ■ 198 

Oil  as  food 147 

Oil  of  the  skin 120 

Oil-glands 120 

Optic  nerve  and  tobacco 171 

Out-doors,  to  sleep 126 

Over-strain  in  athletic  contests 24 

Oxygen 20,  33 

Pancreas,  the 5^ 

Paper  as  clothing 140 

Papillae  of  the  dermis 115 

identification  by 115 

Pdte  de  foie  gras 150 

Pease 155 

Pelvis,  the 7 

distorted 7 

female 7?  56 

Periosteum,  the 3 

Personal  equation 46 

Perspiration,  the 117 

absorption  of  the 137 

controls  bodily  temperature 119 

foetid II,  133 

and  woolen  clothing 138 

Phrenology 39 

Physiology,  definition  of 2 

Piles 68 

Pipe,  tobacco i73~4 

Plexus,  cardiac ^ 44 

solar 44 

Pores  of  the  skin 117 

Posture,  abnormal 9^ 

normal  rules  for 94 

Potato,  the 154 

Prostration,  nervous 108 

revival  from 44 

Protector,  abdominal 143 

chest 141 


Index  217 


PAGE 

Proteids,  the 145 

digestion  of 63 

Punching-bag,  the 79 

Pulse,  the 29 

excitable 30 

rate 30 

Pyridine 163 

Radius,  the 5 

Rectum,  the 67 

Reflex  action 41,  73 

centres 41 

Respiration,  mechanism  of 19 

modification 20 

organs  of 17 

purpose  of 20 

rate  of 21 

Rheumatism,  inflammatory 28 

Ribs,  the 5 

Richardson,  B.  W 170,  176 

Sacrum,  the 7 

St.  Martin,  Aleiis 64 

Saliva,  a  digestive  fluid 58 

impaired  by  tobacco. 167 

Salts,  inorganic 147 

vegetable 147 

Scapula,  the 5 

Scarlet  fever,  the  kidneys  in 114 

Scholar's  stoop,  the 92 

Scholarship  and  tobacco 177 

Scurvy 148 

Sea-bathing 129 

"Sea-salt" 129 

.Sebaceous  glanrls 120 

.Second  wind 89 

Semen,  the 56 

Serge 13S 

Shinny 77 

•Shocks,  n<;rvous  suscc|)til)iiity  decreased  by 164 

Shoddy 138 


21 8  Index 

PACE 

Shoes 142 

Shoulder-blade,  the 5 

Shoulders,  round 92 

Skeleton,  the 2 

Skill,  advantages  of  acquired 40 

Skin,  the 114 

oil  of  the 120 

Skull,  the 4 

Sleep 109 

after  food 145 

Smoke  inhaled 167,  169,  175 

Smokers'  throat 167 

Smoking 165,  181 

after  maturity 182 

no  evidence  of  manliness 181 

Sparring 7& 

Sphincter  muscles i^ 

Spinai  cord,  the 39 

automatic  centres  in 45 

Spine,  the 3 

cartilages  of 4 

Spleen,  the 55 

Sprain 12 

Staleness 187 

Starch,  digestion  of 59 

as  food 146 

Starvation,  elements  expended  in 149 

Stature,  excessive 23 

dwarfed  by  tobacco. 177 

Stillg,  Alfred 171-2 

Stockings • 14^ 

Stomach,  the 52 

alcohol  absorbed  by 62 

not  be  economized  upon ._ - 162 

water  absorbed  by 62 

Strain 12 

Strength  distinct  from  energy 146 

Sugar  for  athletes. 156 

an  energy-producer. =  156 

as  food 146,  156 


Index  ±1^ 


PAGE 

Suspenders 142 

Sweater,  principle  of  the 138 

Sweat-glands. 117 

Sweetbreads 55 

Swimming 80,  127 

Switzerland,  mortality  after  drinking  in 197 

Sympathetic  nervous  system 40 

functions  of 41 

Table,  character  of  the 162 

Tea 160 

Teeth,  the 70 

bacteria,  action  of,  on 71 

care  of 72 

decayed,  reflex  action  from ,72 

of  savages 71 

sugar,  action  of,  on.  . 71 

tobacco,  action  of,  on 71 

Tendon 14 

Tennis 79 

elbow 7 

Thigh-bone,  the 7 

Thirst 61 

false 61 

Thompson,  W.  G 166 

Thumb,  the 7 

as  a  seal 115 

Tibia,  the 9 

Tissue-waste  and  tobacco 123 

Tobacco.  . 163 

advantages  of 165,  181 

arrests  tissue- waste 173 

cancer  and 167 

chewing 60 

custom  and t8i 

deteriorates  drawing 172 

diminishes  chest-girth 177 

dwarfs  stature 177 

infjittmcnt  of 176 

irritates  heart 172 


220  Index 


PAGE 

Tobacco,  harmfulness  of i66 

in  moderation i8i 

modes  of  using 173 

motor  nerves,  action  on ■ 171 

optic  nerve,  action  on. 171 

pathological  action  of 172 

physiological  action  of 164,  170 

scholarship  and 178 

smoking 165,  181-2 

trammels  physique 177 

in  youth ,  1 79 

Toast. - 152 

Toe,  the  great 10 

Toe-nails,  ingrowing 10 

Toleration  a  nervous  characteristic 164 

Toothache,  tobacco  in 166 

To.xaemia,  alcoholic 196 

Trachea,  the •  i7.  19 

automatic  closing  of 17 

Training,  how  to  break. 24 

Tripe - 52 

Trousers -  142 

Ulna,  the • • 6 

Underwear,  woolen 138 

Urea • • .  •  ■  149 

Urinary  bladder.  .  .  ., 56 

Urine,  daily  amount  of .55,  113 

Valves  of  the  heart. - -  •  26 

Vegetable  acids  and  salts 147 

Ventricles,  the - 25 

Vermiform  appendix 53 

Vertebrae . 3 

Vesicles,  air 18 

seminal • •  • 5^ 

Vital  capacity 22 

table  to  determine 23 

Voice,  the  nasal • ■ • 88 


Index  221 

PAGE 

Walking  for  exercise - 80 

"Warming  up" 81,  89 

Warts 121 

Washing 131 

Waste,  elimination  of , 1 1 1 

by  the  lungs 112 

by  the  kidneys 112 

by  the  sweat-glands 117 

formed  in  the  liver 1:3 

Water , 157 

absorbed  by  the  clothing.  ... 137 

not  absorbed  by  the  skin 1 20 

in  the  diet,  function  of 158 

quantity  of 157 

distilled 159 

escape  from  the  stomach  of.  .  ■^j^*' 62 

in  haemorrhage 't'**^\-  - • 62,  158 

hot,  a  cerebral  stimulant >. 161 

ice '. , 159 

at  meals 62,  158 

survival  without 158 

at  the  training-table 158 

while  walking,  to  drink 61 

Watson,  Thomas 37 

Weight,  normal 23 

White  nervous  matter 47 

Whitehead,  W.  R 7 

Wind,  second 89 

Wind[)ipc,  the 17 

cutting  the 19 

Wood  alcohol    200 

Wool  as  clothing 137 

Work,  muscular 16 

alcohol  in 188 

Worsted 138 

Youth  and  tobacco 1 79 


1 

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Personal  hygiene. 


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